[ gameboy ] — Amy Zhang

Presented by Dancehouse, Sydney Dance Company and Australian Dance Theatre as part of ORBIT. — Who's in control? Two avatars are dropped into a series of escalating challenges. As they complete each level, they’re asked to consider how far they’ll go to ‘win’. Choreographer Amy Zhang brings her signature of fusion of street styles and contemporary to explore the collision between the real and the virtual in a work that is as irreverently fun as it is physically virtuosic. Taking inspiration from Japanese game shows, The Sims, and the strangest corners of the internet, [ gameboy ] is a raucously renegade work that steps inside the screen and slyly looks back. If life is a game, who’s holding the controllers?

Director & Choreographer Amy Zhang Collaborators & Performers William ‘Billy’ Keohavong and Ko Yamada Sound Designer Jackson Gracia Contributing Composer Maxwell ‘Thv Flood’ Douglas Lighting Design Theodore Carrol Associate Choreographer Jasmin Luna This project is developed with the support of Critical Path, Metro Arts and Mad Dance House.

ORBIT is a new touring program designed to take independent dance to the next level. Led by Australian Dance Theatre (SA), Dancehouse (VIC) and Sydney Dance Company (NSW), ORBIT will see exceptional independent choreographic works slingshot to multiple cities on a fully supported tour. ORBIT’s 2026 program will feature Agitato byJo Lloyd, Charcoal by Keia McGrady, [ gameboy ] by Amy Zhang and Future History by Gabrielle Nankivell. Running the gamut from a poignant mediation on country, an exploration of ingenuity in the face of ecological collapse, a choreographic reckoning with a virtuosic piece of classical music from 1823 and a video game inspired work about our digital lives, ORBIT offers audiences the chance to experience works from artists at the vanguard of contemporary Australian performance.