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of the Australian bush. Collaboration can be a slippery term, with hopes for an equal footing between the participants and equal creative-sharing. It does not always go that way. Conflicts, disagreements, unsatisfying outcomes, and a deferral of connection are without a doubt a part of the process in practice based, inter-cultural and interdisciplinary performance research. Culture is not static. “It is a flow”. We meet the other. Some things get lost in the transactions while other things are discovered. Collaboration can be a destabilizing force, a creative collision that can also give rise to multiple voices, discordant though the harmonies may be, against the flow, speaking of the potential for inter-creative invention and re-invention, the hope for change and perhaps something completely new. Desire ‘When taste, sound, image, movement, rhythm and transformation meet, therefore the rasa is possible.’ (Susan L. Schwartz, 2008) RASA: ‘flavour’, ‘taste’, ‘essence’ Indian aesthetic theory teaches that it is through the ‘rasa’ in performance, a joyous savoring
of essence that an audience may experience a higher state of consciousness and spiritual insight a rasa of desire. Tastes have definitely changed over the years, mixing new flavours infused with stories and shared dreaming, a distillation of essence… Inter-cultural practice in Sydney has stepped onto a world stage with local and international artists and forums, and an ongoing dialogue via the Internet, new writings, and a more astute gaze. There is a greater clarity in the personal and collective questions, articulating concerns about identity, shared knowledge and cultural framings evident in the work showcased at Speak Local. The performances were thoughtful, intelligent, highly skilled, at times humorous and heart warming. And of course there were those special random moments, and synchronicities. For example, at the beginning of Thomas Kelly’s performance, the space was activated by a sudden quiet as the rain stopped falling after an endless downpour. Seconds before the piece ended a kookaburra could be heard in the distance, beyond the window frames. Watching the solo dance work by Anna Kuroda was like looking through a microscope, observing miniature creatures hovering on the