Two performances on Saturday 3 October: 7.30am and 6pm.

The River is a new site-responsive contemporary dance work set within a natural riverside amphitheatre on Bunurong Country.

Performed at dawn and dusk, this intimate duet invites audiences into a world of movement, sound, longing, and emotional transformation. Surrounded by water, shifting light, and a live sonic environment, the work traces how romantic relationships carve pathways through our lives, like rivers winding through the landscape. 

Tender, physical, and deeply atmospheric, The River explores love as a force of attraction, erosion, attachment, and change. Bodies converge and drift apart across the landscape in a choreography shaped directly by the site itself. While haunting ritual-like sequences emerge beside deep water pools and ghost gums. 

Continuing Zoë Bastin Dance’s ongoing exploration of storytelling through contemporary dance in public space, The River is an invitation to gather at the edge of the water for a transformative experience about love, loss, and human connection."

About Zoë Bastin Dance

Zoë Bastin Dance creates large-scale contemporary dance performances in public space. We transform rivers, beaches and civic landscapes into places of gathering, reflection and encounter through award-winning choreography developed with local communities. Our practice sits at the intersection of contemporary dance, ecology and community engagement, creating performances that are inseparable from the places in which they are made.

Acknowledgments

The River is by Zoe Bastin Dance commissioned and co-presented by Wyndham City Council as part of the 2026 Melbourne Fringe Pulse Program with generous support from Next Wave. 

The River is a site-responsive contemporary dance work set within a natural riverside amphitheatre on Bunurong Country.

Audience 

Please dress warmly and appropriately for weather conditions, as temperatures may drop at dusk.

There is no walking involved once you arrive on site, with paved pathways leading directly to the designated seating area.

Some seating will be provided, including chairs, with additional informal picnic-style seating on mats and blankets. Audiences are welcome to bring warm layers or blankets for comfort.

About Melbourne Fringe Festival 

Melbourne Fringe Festival is an annual, open-access arts festival in Melbourne that presents over 500 events over three weeks in September to October. Genres include dance, performance, theatre, visual arts to comedy. Melbourne Fringe funds new work and develops emerging voices to support access and provide a platform to perform.