Australia Dancing - Bangarra Dance Theatre (1989

Bangarra Dance Theatre (1989 - )

Webster, Tim: Stephen Page with poster for 'Praying Mantis Dreaming', 1992

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Bangarra Dance Theatre was founded in 1989 by Carole Johnson, an African-American dance leader who was a founding director of NAISDA College (National Aboriginal and Islander Skills Development Association). Bangarra's vision is to provide opportunities for Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists to explore, express and present the identity of Australia's indigenous cultures through dance and theatre performances. Bangarra means 'to make fire' in the Wiradjuri language of New South Wales. The company's program notes for its 2003 work Bush affirm that 'Bangarra Dance Theatre speaks with an ancient yet completely contemporary voice to people everywhere'.

Stephen Page, himself an alumnus of NAISDA, was appointed artistic director in 1991 and in 1992 created the company's first full-length work, Praying Mantis Dreaming. Under Page the company developed a particular style of performance that drew on both traditional and urban Aboriginal cultures. The company works in close collaboration with a cultural consultant, who is the source of Bangarra's traditional knowledge. For a significant number of years from the early 1990s that consultant was Djakapurra Munyarryun, a member of the Munyarryun clan of north-east Arnhem Land. In 2003 Kathy Balngayngu Marika, a senior woman of the Rirratjingu clan, took on the role of cultural consultant working with Bangarra on the creation of Bush.

Since Praying Mantis Dreaming, Bangarra has presented numerous further works by Page as well as works by Bernadette Walong, Frances Rings and Elma Kris, some of them co-choreographed with Page. Landmark productions include Rites (2007), a collaboration with the Australian Ballet choreographed by Page, and Awakenings, the indigenous section of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games opening ceremony in which the company played a key role. Choreographed by Page and designed by Peter England, this production featured Djakapurra Munyarryun, Bangarra dancers and over 1000 indigenous people from clans across Australian and the Torres Strait. In 2010 the company received the Australian Dance Award for outstanding performance by a company for its production Fire: A Retrospective, a work that celebrated Bangarra's 20th year anniversary by featuring memorable elements of previous productions.

Bangarra's international acclaim began with a 16 city sell-out tour to the United States in 2001. In 2002 the company appeared at the Monaco Dance Forum, in 2004 it returned to the United States, performing in New York and in Washington by special invitation, in 2005 it toured to Japan and New Zealand and in 2006 to the United Kingom. In 2008 the company toured to North America with 'Awakenings', a two-part program featuring Boomerang and Brolga, and performed Rites with the Australian Ballet in Paris and London.

Frances Rings was appointed resident choreographer for Bangarra in 2010. Other choreographers made their mark on the repertoire soon after. In 2010 young artist Daniel Riley McKinley created his first work Riley for the company and in 2011 established artist Elma Kris created About, her second company work incorporating Torres Strait Islands idioms. This was shown in Belong with Page's new work ID. The repertoire of the company is listed on its website which is available as a link at the top of this page.

Bangarra has been the recipient of many awards. Australian Dance Awards include best choreography for Stephen Page's Fish in 1997; Djakapura Munyarryun for outsdanding male dancer in 1998; Francis Rings for her work Unaipon in 2004 and Patrick Thaiday for outstanding male dancer in that work; Fire - a retrospective for best company performance in 2010. Helpmann Awards include best choreography for Stephen Page's Corroboree in 2002; Russell Page for best male dancer in Walkabout, which won Stephen Page best new work in 2003 as did Bush which he created with Francis Rings, in 2004; David Page for best new original score and Stephen Page for best choreography in Mathinna in 2009; best choreography in Fire - a retrospective in 2010, the year Stephen Page received the Australian Dance Award for services to dance. Bibliography:

Stephanie Burridge, 'Dreaming the future: the emergence of Bangarra Dance Theatre', Australasian Drama Studies, 41 (October 2002), pp. 77-89; Celia Weiss, 'Story space in Bangarra's Pride: an imperative for reconciliation', Australasian Drama Studies, 41 (October 2002), pp. 90-100.

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Find more about Bangarra Dance Theatre in:

Internet - Google
Libraries - Libraries Australia
Articles - New York Public Library Dance Collection
Pictures - Picture Australia