SEXES FESTIVAL

WARNING: This festival definitely contains coarse language, nudity, sexual references and adult themes.

It also features exhibitions, performances, live art, erotic readings and a danceathon, in an enthralling program of visual and performing arts exploring sexual and gendered identities in contemporary Australia.

The two new full-length performances include Whelping Box, where spectators watch performers chained to stakes testing the limits of endurance and civility, and Something In The Way She Moves, which explores invisibility and womanhood in the everyday.T

Whelping boxes are used for pregnant dogs to give safe birth in and raise their puppies.

“We are looking at the rituals and endurance that are used to construct a self-made mythology,” says Whelping Box co-creator and performer, Lee Wilson.

“The audience are seated around us in a large wooden box and it’s a test for us and for the audience. They’ll be close to a lot of raw energy.”

In contrast, Julie-Anne Long’s solo dance work Something in the Way She Moves looks at the rich inner lives of women often hidden or invisible from the public eye.

“I’m using everyday simple movements as a starting point to show how there is something strong and extraordinary in seemingly ordinary, invisible women,” says Long.

Oct 25-Dec 1, CarriageWorks, 245 Wilson Street, Eveleigh, free-$30, 8571 9111, performancespace.com.au

BY CHERYL NORTHEY