My Fierce Ignorant Step, Sydney Festival

A stirring celebration of what keeps us together.

What happens when ten individuals move and breathe as one, yet remain fiercely themselves? In his first work since winning the inaugural Rose International Dance Prize in 2025, acclaimed choreographer Christos Papadopoulous sets his sight on togetherness, exploring the invisible energy that defines a group as distinct.

Most people experience this for the first time in childhood, the pain and joy of growing within a set of relationships. My Fierce Ignorant Step is steeped in the felt world of adolescence, masterfully recapturing that singular sense of the world as a limitless vista where anything is possible. In dark days, that thought is troubling: in the fearless summer of youth, it’s a source of ecstasy and a reminder that hope can be reclaimed.

Invoking the energy of first encounters, shared laughter, and communal joy, My Fierce Ignorant Step celebrates the exhilaration of moving together as a form of resistance to the world we live in. Starting from the humble acts of walking and breathing, the accumulation of simple movements explodes into something urgent, vibrant, and profoundly alive.