How, in the middle of nowhere, a disused water tank stirred a performance

This article examines associated site-specific experiences of embodied and somatic spirituality as they unfolded in a private performance performed by the author. The improvised experiment took place in a disused water tank in remote south-west New South Wales, Australia, on the traditional lands of the Ngiyampaa and Wangaaypuwan people. Housed within the confines of a 10-metre-high water tank is a 5 × 5 × 5 metre concrete tube repurposed by creator and sound artist Georges Lentz and architect Glenn Murcutt. Transformed from a water tank of unusual proportions to a non-secular sanctuary and influenced by the sheer size and incongruity of the location, there was an unexpected spirituality experienced that is hard to quantify. Through film, text and photography, the author – a female White older dancer – documents the journey of a body made visible in a strange location. As the article details, a deeply felt spiritual response to this bizarre environment emerged while navigating a previously unknown place with the expectations of performance from an ageing body.