FINDING JODY JENKINS

Finding Jody Jenkins begins with a daughter attempting the ultimate birthday surprise. Neda Taha prides herself on being an exceptional gift giver, known for thoughtful gestures that often leave loved ones in tears of joy. But when it comes to her father, she’s never quite cracked the code. He isn’t sentimental, rarely nostalgic, and is almost impossible to impress.

While searching for inspiration ahead of his 58th birthday, a conversation about the flamenco guitar book he once used to teach her how to play leads to the name Jody Jenkins - her father’s long-lost friend - a name that instantly shifts his energy and sparks a curiosity she can’t ignore.

With only fragments of information, Neda sets out on a deeply personal and secret mission to give her father the greatest gift imaginable: finding Jody Jenkins and reuniting him with her dad. But as the search unfolds, the mission begins to uncover far more than she anticipated.

Blending live performance, multimedia and movement, the work traces a real-life search and explores how family stories are passed down, withheld and quietly carried - and what can surface when we decide to go looking.

BODIES HOLD HISTORIES

We move backwards into the future with our focus fixed on the past, making history as we dance - right here, right now.

Bodies Hold Histories is an immersive dance work in development by PYT Fairfield featuring artists from Western Sydney and the Northern Rivers.

It expands the intercultural, interdisciplinary and intergenerational connections to Country, stories and community by blending phenomenology and science to explore how history is accessed, created and shared through dance.

Artists have travelled between Western Sydney and the Northern Rivers to continue developing as an ensemble with local artists and community responding to place, care and Country.