7 Worlds for Sensory Story Telling 

• ⁠  SINGING TO WHALES
  Our secret way to connect to the whales. By inviting them with our live music, onboard our sail boat, in the midst of the infinite ocean. The whales appear as if from nowhere and chose of their own volition to come be with us. Listen and even dance to our music along side our boat.  This is beautiful poetic moment when tiny human voices spread expansively accross the infinite ocean with heart felt hope which when the inevitable whales approach , turns into excitement and elation. Changing the song.
  In August 2023, Our first day on an 8 day research trip, we sang a multi part harmony over some Ohms. And a whale leaped out of the water directly to our boat three times, full body without a splash and sang at us, out of the water. Which after spending years at sea working with whales, across 4 oceans. I can confirm is extremely rare. This whale matched our melody and notes . And sounded like we might trying to sing in the water. Or an elephant. We all sobbed with joy at this wildly unusual moment.

 

• THE SOUL TO SOUL DANCE - THE CONVERSATION
  Underwater timeless and silent eye to eye, soul to soul encounters. In the endless blue. Only thing big enough to hold our infinite multi dimensional selves.
  Being truly seen, and feeling actually loved on by a 25 metre whale.
  The healing transformation is live and washes all your cells clean of all the earthly suffering. The call and response. Like Pisco's first meeting. 
  She offered a move and the whale responded with the same move!?!!!
  Unimaginably poignant, scientifically significant and truly cinematic.

 

• WHALES BEING WHALES... ( See shot list. )
• Mating, breast feeding, being tender. Being fierce. Being surprising. ) Playing Peek a Boo!  Singing, dancing... and so so much more. 

 

• REMERGENCE
• Reaction Shots of our human faces right out of the water.  People emerging reborn. Totally transformed. And elated and hyper emotional. Mots people sob with joy, with a new found brightness in their eyes.

 

• EPIC EPHIPHANIES
  Reflections and lessons learnt at sunset onboard the sailboat. Surrounded by golden light, pinks and peaches and swollen ocean dappled with tiny ripples...or mirror flat. A total wombey energy of sunset . Held by the almost sung beauty of the light at that time . Add to that, the fast that all animals nearby all reacting in same reverence and danced celebration of that sunset light that makes us all hold time still and want to loll and dance. Reflections on the meta physics of what whales teach us too.

 

• DEEPER LEARNING
• Group conversations on land with expert translators of whales, including mostly first nations. These are defined by their own unique spaces we will visit. Conversations filmed both before and after principal photography at sea.

 

• UNREAL/ REAL LUMINESCENT WORLDS
  Bioluminescent worlds of whales and other animals at night. Our team includes Franziska Link, an underwater DP with years of experience as a free diver who was on the unique team who managed to capture images of Bioluminescent dolphins in "Night on earth" for Netflix. This is near impossible and has taken decades of technical learning to finally have any team on earth, get decent quality images of any large, even mammals in water and bioluminescence! Chloé Pisco has had 3 whale encounters in full biolimensces and knows exactly how to invite these to occur, and where and when. this would be the first time any one has filmed bioluminescent whales.

 

• ANIMATED DREAMS
  Animations to represent the flying with whales dreams that have spurred Pisco on since she can remember.
  A calling to flight, but with whales.
  Also animations of the two main moments that changed Pisco's life. The 1st danced conversation with a whale. eye to eye and the bioluminescent whales.  She knows we will very likely get these shots in real life. So perhaps we don't need this.

NEWSFLASH!
CO-WRITERS, FUNDERS and EXPERT CHARACTERS JOIN TEAM!

Here are some of the brief info / highlights on our awesome new co-creators :)

→ Some of the many Indigenous advisers and collaborators in front and behind the camera.
Advising in all prep, replanning stages, ( now) and also speaking to us in front of the camera.

Dr Edwards And Dr Marshall will both join the writing team.

(Note - All artists participating will have editorial power over their image and sound and the content that is sensitive to them and their cultures also.)

UPDATED !

• Dr Jodi Edwards -  Yuin woman with Dharawal kinship connection who has dedicated her life to Community, Culture, education and Language. Her nation has a long history of "singing in the whales". She has just secured 3 year funding to map the songlines  of 3 types of whales, the sea floor all along the east coast, using women lead indigenous science - and relate the knowledge back to the whale migrations and their changes.
• Dr Chelsea Marshall - A Gumbangia woman from near Coff's harbour Australia. She is a co- creator with Jodi on above  project. Her people also have long ancestral relationships with and practices of "singing in the whales to shore". Chelsea is also part of the world famous INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE SYSTEMS LAB by Tyson Yunkaporta, at DEAKIN University. 
  See here: https://ikslab.deakin.edu.au/about-us-2/ Chels’s work focuses on the role and efficacy of Indigenous approaches to marine environment resources. She looks at management and sustainable resource use in the era of human-induced climate change, and the relationship of these diverse forms of knowledge, to each other and to global Western scientific approaches, either in partnered co-management or distinctively.

Director Chloé Pisco and two awesome DPs, (both are First Nations filmmakers), will all fly in April 2024 to begin the journey from the beginning of the SOUTHERN RIGHT whale, Orca whale and Humpback whale migration journey, starting in Tasmania. This is a journey that these amazing scientific researchers: Jodi and Chels are funded to undertake for the next three years.

Following the migration of the whales and meeting elders all along the way with whale connection.
They have hired  Chloé to document their own journey.

This footage is agreed to serve both of their research and filmmaking needs and purposes.  Harmonious mutualism, like nature.

The journey for these two Indigenous, female, academics will be filmed as well as their experiences of learning to free dive. Then meet their first whales underwater, all fully funded by the research budget of their project. And this included the film budget to travel and document, more for a moving image highlights, but through this collab - We will all have the whole experience documented even more deeply. 

The two post Doctoral research fellows, are also bringing 7 indigenous women to learn to free dive on this journey. So they may encounter their first whale underwater too. This is also part of their research budget.

This  whole shoot is an extra leg of the story of Dances with whales, and yet, aligns exactly with out plans and hearts direction so far. How lucky!

We could not be more excited about the mutual learning that is happening between us and the collaboration that has begun. 
 
This project wishes to dismantle the human construct of:
separatism, the idea we are apart from anything--> 
ESPECIALLY in Nature, each other, whales, a tree, a bacterium... anything and everything.
We are all inherently linked. We are collective.
We always were. And always will be too.
How extraordinary this life is!!!


CHARACTERS 

→ Chloé Pisco, the instigator of all of this. She has lucid dreamt of whales and dolphins, even becoming one, since she was a child. She chased her dream of connection, communicating and expressing herself with whales, into reality.

→ Tyrel Dulvarie - Ex Bangarra Dance theatre Dancer and proudly from Gimuy, he is a descendant of the Yirrganydji, Djirrabul, Kalkadoon and Umpila peoples. 

​

→ Yolanda Lowatta -  Ex Bangarra Dance theatre Dancer and a proud Giedi woman born on Thursday Island. She is a descendant of Yam Island in the Torres Strait and is also of Papua New Guinean and Fijian heritage. 

→ Waangenga Blanco - From the Mer Island people and of the Pajinka Wik, Cape York. After studying at NAISDA, Waangenga was invited to join Bangarra in 2005. His career highlights during his 13 years with them, include the company's return to Meriam Mer in the Torres Strait Islands to perform Emeret Lu by the ocean and also dancing on the football field in Yirrkala for the community as well countless awards and choreographic credits.

→ Jilli Balu Riley is a Djabugay and Muluridji man from the Kuranda area of Far North “so called” Queensland, Australia. He is an acrobat for C!RCA, a dancer and even a self taught free diver who spearfished since he was young.

--> Dalisa Pigram - a proud Yawuru/Bardi woman and Artistic co - director of MARRUGEKU company - Sydney/ Broome. 

→ Guy Ritani - Proud Takatapui Māori non binary, artist, dancer, activist, designer and permaqueer educator from Aotearoa ( New Zealand.) 

→ Dominique “Domi” Abraham - A Papuan New Guinean Australian woman, International teacher of freediving for Molchanov, underwater mermaid performer and safety diver. Her passion for meditation, relaxation and vagus nerve releases / somatic experiencing all inform her teaching practice in free diving.
She will be our underwater mama. Her partner Harry, also a safety free diver and excellent teacher and their 3 year old will be onboard also. They are all the sweetest people you have ever met... plus they dive as a family too.
Domi and Harry will teach all the dancers to freedive safely.

→ Amber Bourke - Multiple record holder and global Freedive champion  - Incredible multiple record holding freediving World champion from Meanjin (Brisbane), and free diver.

→  Adam Stern - Multiple record holder and global Freedive champion - free diver from Wollongong Australia with years of experience free diving with whales.


 
Expert Discussions:

• Alexis Pauline Gumbs  : Author of Undrowned: BLACK FEMINIST LESSONS from MARINE MAMMALS.
• Dr Nan Hauser : President & Director of the Center for Cetacean Research & Conservation Marine biologist in the Cook islands, whose life was saved by a humpback whale.
• Tyson Yunkaporta : (TBA) Author of SAND TALK: How indigenous thinking can save the world. Director of the Indigenous Knowledge systems Lab.
• Meleika Gesa-Fatafehi : a Torres Strait Islander and Tongan storyteller whose writing work focuses on poetry and climate change.
• Vanessa Woods and Brian Hare -Authors of Survival of the Friendliest.
• Paul Watson : Co - Founder of Greenpeace and founder of Sea Shepherd who's entire life was changed by the altruism of a whale.

• Katie Payne: First in modern day, to recognise the whale sounds were actual song/ music and co producer of Songs of the Humpback Whale 1970.
• Philip Wollen: Animal advocate and philanthropist, co founder of Sea shepherd Australia.

 

• ​Tentative and delicate research is ongoing to establish exactly what sharing of which knowledge, from a long list of indigenous elders recognised as having specific connections with whales, is appropriate and safe for them to share,  (from Australia, Tonga and some from North America.)

WE ARE BUILDING OUR combined MAP with Chelsea and Jodi to connect the people'e with whale ancestral connection along this coast and ocean. 

Along with their in depth planning for research ethics, there is also a dynamic, every evolving protocols being developed with every step of planning by Pisco and a long list of advisers. All working on how to collaborate safely with First Nations people with all types of expertise, to minimise risks to them in this work. E.G. Writing a cultural, spiritual and mental health risk assessment plan, developing this with people with similar lived experience from the arts, producing etc and most importantly a First Nations perspective.
Engaging with Shifting ground and other organisations that can help decolonise our approaches, systems and thinking.

As well as how to keep evolving, assessing and improving those methods of plan making.

We wish to acknowledge the Butchulla people, the Yugambeh people, the clans that make up the Bundjalung Nations, the Turrbal and Yaggera people, as original custodians of the lands and seas where we often work.

Places where stories, culture and art have been made and shared for millennia. Recognising their ancestors, as well as past, current and future elders; whose sovereign country was never ceded.
Australia always was, and always will be, aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander land.