Review: Electric Universe
Picture: Solstice Dance Collective’s Electric Universe at the Anywhere Festival Paint Factory Hub (Image credit: Creative Futures Photography).
The world premiere of Electric Universe, the latest new contemporary dance work by Solstice Dance Collective (SDC), received a rapturous response from audiences at the 2026 Anywhere Festival.
SDC is a local independent contemporary dance group which seeks to ‘ educate and engage audiences, using dance as a medium to explore complex themes that provoke thought and emotions.’ In this latest work, Esmée Henry (Choreographer) turns to the world of birds, unfolding the life cycle of a bird through an impressive contemporary dance work.
As you will see in my photographs, the SDC dancers—Meghan Blackburn, Grace Campbell, Eva Cattarin Mattioli, Noah Hockey and Mia Williams—capture and convey moments of hatching, fledging, fighting and courtship that feature in the lives of birds. As with the SDC Exocytosis, also programmed as part of the 2026 Anywhere Festival, Electric Universe is an unforgettable show that is an exhilarating and highly professional piece of contemporary dance. And one that I am delighted to highly recommend.
Picture: Solstice Dance Collective’s Electric Universe (Image credit: Creative Futures Photography).
Picture: Solstice Dance Collective’s Electric Universe (Image credit: Creative Futures Photography).
Picture: Solstice Dance Collective’s Electric Universe (Image credit: Creative Futures Photography).
Picture: Solstice Dance Collective’s Electric Universe at the Anywhere Festival Paint Factory Hub (Image credit: Creative Futures Photography).
Picture: Solstice Dance Collective’s Electric Universe (Image credit: Creative Futures Photography).
Picture: Solstice Dance Collective’s Electric Universe (Image credit: Creative Futures Photography).
Picture: Solstice Dance Collective’s Electric Universe (Image credit: Creative Futures Photography).
Audience information: 2026 Anywhere Festival Brisbane performances of Electric Universe are at The Paint Factory Festival Hub, 115 Hyde Road, Yeronga, (22-24 May 2026). Tickets $38. No warnings, but ‘bring a jacket, it might get chilly’ (PG—suggest 5+). 30 minutes.
The photographer attended the 22 May 2026 opening night.