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The Crossing was a performance event on Lock Island Mildura in collaboration with the Victorian College of Koorie Education, Koorie dance man Peter Peterson, the New South Wales TAFE, Riverina Institute, Koorie Unit , performers; Gretel Taylor, Carolyn Connors, Tony Yap, Craig Peade, Emma Strapps, musician Steve Bell, didgeridu B.J. Hunt and video Pete Brownstein, stills; Naomi Herzog and Malcom Cross . Conceived and directed by myself. It was funded by Arts Victoria, Vic Health, Regional Arts Victoria and the Mildura Wentworth Arts Festival 2007. The work is inspired by local stories about cross cultural relationsto place and incorporates early colonial institutional characters who had a direct connection with the indigenous population such as the missionaries and the bush nurses. At times this was a fraught relation. The Crossing moves across time to include the ÒLost MalaysianÓ who is neither coloniser nor colonised. His dissociation is his lack of connection to this place. There is also a contemporary Òwhite tree spiritÕÕ who is an amalgam of my own childhood Celtic fairies and Australian bush spirits translated through the dancer, Emma Strapp in response to the island and the brief. The grounding reality is through the Koorie children dancing their ancient River Dance. The audience were guided across the island from performance cameo to cameo. The video is a translation of the live work and is ideally re-presented as a multi screen installation where each character relates across the gallery space. This is a very condensed version.