There are nights in the theatre where applause feels insufficient, where clapping hands struggle to meet what has just been offered. Sisa-Sisa is one of those nights. This double-bill of solo dance works is not performance as spectacle, but performance as remembrance – an act of listening to bodies that carry histories words cannot fully hold.
Premiering as part of Sydney Festival and presented in partnership with Bankstown Arts Centre, Sisa-Sisa is a world premiere commissioned with support from Create NSW. The title itself signals its intent: sisa-sisa is an Indonesian word meaning “remains.”
What follows are two deeply personal works, Gelumbang Raya by Murtala and Jejak & Bisik by Alfira O’Sullivan, grounded in Indonesian cultural frameworks and united by a shared inquiry into what endures after trauma, silence and change.
Each solo unfolds as a lived testimony. In Gelumbang Raya – roughly translated as “great wave” – Murtala retraces his experience volunteering in the aftermath of the 2004 Aceh tsunami, where he spent months recovering bodies from the land.
The work moves between storytelling and movement, refusing to sensationalise catastrophe while allowing its weight to be felt.
Jejak & Bisik (“traces and whispers”) turns inward. Alfira O’Sullivan confronts cultural silences around fertility, perimenopause and the ageing female body, weaving memory, voice and movement into a ritual of acknowledgement and transformation.
Both works had the audience cheering cultural chants and stamping their feet on the floor as applause rather than the typical Western clapping hands. The experience for both performers and observers is less about catharsis and more about recognition – an appreciation that deepens on an intellectual level even as it resonates emotionally.
As performers, both Murtala and O’Sullivan are commanding in entirely different ways. Murtala’s physical language is grounded and deliberate, his movement carrying the labour of memory and the aftershocks of displacement.
Alfira’s work is more textural and layered, combining body percussion, soulful song, voice-over and culturally informed choreography to articulate experiences so often left unspoken.
The creative team supports this work with remarkable sensitivity. Gondrong Gunarto’s original score thrums beneath the movement, at times insistent, at times almost imperceptible.
Sound design by Gembyang Abad Enggal deepens the sensory landscape, while Fausto Brusamolino’s lighting design sculpts space with precision. Sam James’ visual design presents both natural phenomena in beautiful artistic form.
Costumes by GaluhSari honour cultural specificity and Danielle Micich, former Artistic Director of Force Majeure, brings a clear curatorial hand as Creative Associate.
In the end, Sisa-Sisa is not easily summarised, and nor should it be. It is a raw and resonant act of remembrance – intimate, unflinching and profoundly human. Sisa Sisa is a powerful reminder that when language falls short, the body remembers – and dance endures.
Sisa-Sisa runs to 24 January at Bankstown Arts Centre as part of Sydney Festival. 5 Olympic Parade Bankstown NSW 2200.
Tickets: https://www.sydneyfestival.org.au/events/sisa-sisa
Website: https://www.bankstownartscentre.com.au/sisa-sisa
Socials: https://www.instagram.com/alfirasuaradance/ and https://www.instagram.com/pakmuraustralia/
Photo credits: Victor Frankowski
