Listen to Carly Sheppard on Awaye!<\/a><\/p>\n “I’m a Sheppard too on my mum’s side,” Macindoe continued. “Let’s explore that.”<\/p>\n Together Sheppard and Macindoe created a darkly comedic choreographic work about a pair of lost sheep in a slaughter paddock, The Shepherds, set to premiere this week at the inaugural Australian Dance Biennale as part of Melbourne arts festival Rising.<\/p>\n Sheppard \u2014 a descendant of the Takalaka people of North Queensland \u2014 was thrilled by the coincidence of meeting Macindoe. It brought to mind the idea of being a visitor on someone else’s land \u2014 a feeling she has living in Melbourne.<\/p>\n Having grown up off Country and without learning her language or dances, Sheppard feels like an “orphan of the colony”.<\/p>\n “[That’s what] I’m exploring in this work,” she says.<\/p>\n “Alisdair is [also] exploring his place, but [there’s] also the symbolism of us working together, both settlers in Melbourne, but him being a settler in [Australia].”<\/p>\n Their dance work explores many ideas of what it means to be a “shepherd”. For Sheppard, the idea is linked to the cult she grew up in.<\/p>\n “The concept of a shepherd to me is a Judaeo-Christian biblical concept that is connected to a bunch of trauma and some serious schisms in my upbringing,” she says.<\/p>\n “It is also reflective of what has happened to our people: the missions, missionaries, the idea there is a deity who has given one group of people dominion over others.”<\/p>\n All these ideas could’ve meant The Shepherds felt overstuffed. But Sheppard says she and Macindoe found an elegant solution.<\/p>\n “We created a cult and a ceremonial event for this cult, and it’s pretty cool and intense.<\/p>\n “You can build this thing for the stage, but actually what you’re building is the ceremony. The work itself is the ceremony.”<\/p>\n Finding a way back to dance<\/p>\n The Shepherds is in some ways an artistic homecoming for Sheppard.<\/p>\n “What’s been such a blessing about this situation and Alisdair wanting to work with me is it is in line with my commitment that I made to start dancing again and start choreographing again,” she says.<\/p>\n Sheppard trained in dance and choreography at NAISDA Dance College and Victorian College of the Arts, but, over the years, her relationship to dance became “rocky” and she leaned more towards experimental performance and acting.<\/p>\n Sheppard often works with Jagera\/Butchulla director and performer Kamarra Bell-Wykes and Quandamooka sound designer small sound in the collective A Daylight Connection.\u00a0 (Supplied)<\/p>\n “That became my main gig,” she says.<\/p>\n “There’s a lot of craft that goes along with it. I like working with voice and sound design and I like to build my own sets. I like to do sculpture.<\/p>\n “When I’ve got an idea, I’ve got so many different ways that I like to try, but it’s usually performing on stage that is the end result.”<\/p>\n The opportunity to co-choreograph and perform with Macindoe arrived just as Sheppard had the urge to dance again.<\/p>\n “What I am already getting out of it is an entrance back in and a way to build my skills up again after years,” Sheppard says.<\/p>\n Having a collaborator to bounce ideas off has been invaluable.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/d41fd324f262b86d95d09b56168ecd41.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
![\"Alisdair](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ccfb4347e308d727ffdcde8fb20a0400.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n