The stage will not protect Joshua Taliani. When 'Unveiling Shadows' premieres at Metro Arts this September, part of Brisbane Festival, he’ll step into the light and let the audience see it all: heartbreak, fights for identity, and moments where liberation feels like oxygen.
“I like to keep my personal things in my own circle,” he says. “But hopefully I can expose myself in a way that’s relatable, where artists can take something from it.”
Part survival story, part cultural reckoning, 'Unveiling Shadows' is built on intimate storytelling and the language of movement. Taliani and co-director Wanida Serce weave together trauma, silence, and the shadow of self-destruction, turning them into something visceral and alive. It’s a haunting yet deeply human portrait – a timeline of loss, resilience, and transformation that pulls directly from his lived experiences.
The work blends hip hop, contemporary, and vogue, but Ballroom is its heartbeat. “The essence of Ballroom is based on oppression and finding space to project everything you are, in a creative but safe way,” Taliani explains. For him, it’s both sanctuary and battleground, a place to flex artistry and ego while creating space for queer and trans BIPOC to exist without apology.
As Father of the House of Alexander, Taliani is used to leading. In 'Unveiling Shadows', he steps back into the role of student. “It started with the word 'sonder' – that everyone’s life is as complex as anyone else’s. My queer kids’ stories cracked my hard-ass persona. I hope they see sides of me they don’t usually see in a leader.”
Serce pushes him further than he thinks possible. “She realises I’m capable of more than I know. She’ll put the idea out there and I’ll put the physical into it,” he says.
That trust between them has shaped the piece into something bigger than performance – it’s become a kind of catharsis.
The show moves like a memory, opening in heaviness and loss before bursting into the liberation of vogue. “It’s literally what gave me fighting power,” he says. That structure mirrors his own journey: moving through grief, finding his footing again, and reclaiming joy as an act of defiance.
The seeds for 'Unveiling Shadows' were planted years ago, during his time as Metro Arts’ First Nations Artist in Residence. But the project almost stalled after a break-up that echoed the work’s themes. “I thought, am I mentally ready? At the end of the day, this is nothing but a healing journey. Whether it’s first love, loss of love, regaining strength. . . I’m not doing myself a disservice by going back to those things.”
Every night will bring a different kind of exposure. “Sometimes it’ll be family in the crowd, sometimes friends, sometimes strangers. They’re going to see things I’ve hidden for so long. It’s going to be really exposing.”
For Taliani, vulnerability is harder than fearlessness. But he’s not interested in editing the truth to make it easier to watch. “As dissatisfied as I am with how some things turned out, I wouldn’t be the same person without going through it properly.”
In 'Unveiling Shadows', those private reckonings become public art – not to be polished or contained, but to be witnessed.
'Unveiling Shadows' plays Metro Arts (Brisbane) 10-13 September.
