Conversation with dancer and choreographer JASMIN SHEPPARD about PREPARING GROUND – a new dance work that invites us to join First Peoples’ care of Land as an urgent act for our shared future.

PREPARING GROUND is a First Nations-led dance work co-directed by pioneering indigenous artist Marilyn Miller, alongside Jasmin Sheppard and Katina Olsen. It dances of the future Future—a world where care for Country and community continues generationally. It reminds us that our survival depends on an enduring relationship with the land, and that the path forward is one we must walk together.

More about this work: https://www.blakdance.org.au/articles/preparing-ground

Also featured on the show, a music from SOUND THE ALARM, a 16-piece ensemble led by double bassist Clayton Thomas, in response to the genocide in Palestine. 

The track was recorded during their live performance at Johnston Street Jazz (June 2024). The music is a composed improvisation, described by Clayton as “a sonic allegory and a simple way to collect human energy in the right place for the right reasons.”

All the proceeds from the album go towards humanitarian aid in Gaza: https://claytonthomas.bandcamp.com


Originally aired on Eastside Radio 89.7FM on 12 May 2025.

The track featured at the very beginning is by Samuel Pankhurst who is a sound designer on PREPARING GROUND. 

Sympoiesis radio show is produced on the Gadigal land of the Eora nation, traditional custodians of this land. We pay our respect and gratitude to the elders past, present, and yet to come.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/sympoiesisradioshow
Instagram: www.instagram.com/sympoiesis_radio_show

PRESENTER/INTERVIEWER: Ira Ferris (www.instagram.com/artemisprojects)

EP73: Jasmin Sheppard (Preparing Ground)

PODCAST-CONVERSATIONS with artists and art theorists, from visual to performing arts, discussing conceptual frameworks and philosophical outlooks. Also some SOUND-COLLAGES, assembled together on variety of themes, such as: sleep, silence, intuition, collaboration, failure, and more. 

Available via iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/artemis-projects/id1462300886

PRODUCER & HOST: Ira Ferris (https://www.artemisprojects.com.au/projects-ira-ferris)

EP73: Jasmin Sheppard (Preparing Ground)

Artemis Projects