It’s a revealing and personal depiction of the bond between Kayah Guenther – a young man with Down Syndrome – and his sister Maitreyah Guenther – who didn’t even know that her brother had a disability until she was nine years old.

“It wasn’t until basically, I think I started noticing people’s approach towards him,” Maitreyah said. “That’s when Mum and Dad sat us down and said that, and I remember being so amazed.

“Because I was like, `What do you mean? It’s just, Kayah’. So it’s always interesting when I look back, because I didn’t see Down Syndrome, I just see Kayah.”

Glass Child is produced by Gold Coast-based collective The Farm and was created by a collaborative team including the siblings. The Farm Co-Director and Glass Child co-creator Gavin Webber said its impossible not to be moved by their performance.

“All the stories coming out from their whole lives, the way people have viewed it and this kind of objectification that can happen, the way people overlook certain people,” Webber said.

“Kayah has this incredible way that he, it’s like he’s talking to you, but through movement. Sometimes, as Kayah says in the show, he struggles with his voice, but he speaks through dance in a way that’s just incredible.

“It was their common language growing up. You’ll see it in the show, it’s like they have a shared DNA. Obviously they do – but there’s the similarity in the way they move.

“Kayah said something very beautiful once about that, about the strength, risk, and passion. I think he shows his passion when he dances very much.”

There are several important takeaways that Webber hopes the audience will embrace after witnessing the emotive performance.

“I want those in attendance to understand that people are more complex than we can ever really grasp, and although it may not be possible to always intellectually understand each other we can take a moment to look past our prejudices and see others better,” he said.

“Kayah and Maitreyah wonderfully and humanly and beautifully show us the reality of their lived experience. They began by dancing together. It was their way of speaking and showing the world who they are and what they had to say.

“Often in contemporary dance there is a question of why we are making a show, and what do we want to say. With Kayah and Maitreyah it was easy. They have so much to tell us, it is important that we take an hour to be silent and simply listen.”

The show was brought to QPAC’s Cremorne Theatre after a successful season at HOTA at the Gold Coast.

The term Glass Child refers to the sibling of someone with special needs who often becomes a facilitator in the family, or someone who is “looked through”.

“The show’s a journey, that’s for sure,” Maitreyah said. “Kayah and I have always wanted to make a show together about our story and I guess our journeys. It deals with the topic of how the world copes with difference in beautiful and devastating ways.

“Kayah is a brother of blood, but also a friend I rely on to lift my spirits. Down Syndrome carries many challenges for him, but it gifts him a love that is truly majestic. He sees spiritual beauty in places where I do not, which gives him a strength I will only know through him,” she said.

“The message within the show is behind every face is a soul. Whether that person communicates differently or looks differently. There is a soul there. And I think there is a soul and there’s a part within all of us that I think just wants to be seen and understood. And I guess I also love that people get to see Kayah and it makes me happy. I always feel like when I see Kayah, I see myself a little bit better too.”

Glass Child is on at QPAC’s Cremorne Theatre from May 31 until June 2.