Bangarra Dance Theatre

Bangarra Dance Theatre is an Indigenous Australian contemporary dance company.

History

Bangarra Dance Theatre was founded in October 1989 by Carole J. Johnson, an African-American modern dancer and founder of the National Aboriginal and Islander Skills Development Association (NAISDA), Rob Bryant, a Gumbaynggirr man and graduate of NAISDA, and Cheryl Stone, a South African-born student at NAISDA.[1]

Johnson toured Australia in 1972 with American choreographer Eleo Pomare and his company, and remained in Australia.[2] In 1975 Johnson became the founding director of the Aboriginal Islander Skills Development Scheme, now known as the National Aboriginal and Islander Skills Development Association (NAISDA).[2]

Johnson had a three-part plan for Aboriginal dance in Australia, including establishing a school to give academic qualifications and train dancers as members of a student and graduate performing company that would also teach.[2] It would further provide a path for the dancers to other dance-related jobs, including choreography, tour management, and all front and back of house skills. Thirdly, a vital part was to maintain authentic cultural continuity, friendships, and close ties to traditional communities. Johnson mentored Stone, who studied alongside the dancers. She planned the formation of Bangarra and in 1989, became the founding Artistic Director of Bangarra Dance Theatre.[2]

Bangarra is the Wiradjuri word meaning "to make fire".[3]

Stephen Page has been the artistic director since 1991. Bangarra's first full-length show, Praying Mantis Dreaming, was produced in 1992, in 1994 Stephen Page with Bernadette Walong as Associate Director created Ochres[2] and productions have followed annually since 2000. All have been successful within Australia and some have toured the United States and the United Kingdom. The group also made significant contributions to the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2000 Summer Olympics.

The company has received the Helpmann Award for Best Ballet or Dance Work multiple times.[4]

In 2019, the company marked their thirty-year anniversary with the launch of a digital archive and exhibition named Knowledge Ground.[1][5]

Works
  • 1992 – Praying Mantis Dreaming
  • 1995 – Ochres
  • 1997 – Fish
  • 1997 – Rites with The Australian Ballet
  • 2000 – Skin (included Spear which turned feature film in 2015: Spear)
  • 2001 – Corroboree
  • 2002 – Walkabout
  • 2003 – Bush[6]
  • 2004 – Unaipon
  • 2004 – CLAN
  • 2005 – Boomerang
  • 2006 – Gathering with the Australian Ballet
  • 2007 – True Stories[7][8]
  • 2008 – Mathinna : based on the life of Mathinna an indigenous Tasmanian girl[9]
  • 2008 – Rites (with The Australian Ballet)[10][11]
  • 2009 - Fire – A Retrospective[12]
  • 2010 – of earth & sky
  • 2012 – Terrain
  • 2013 – Blak
  • 2014 – Patyegarang[13] and Kinship
  • 2015 – lore
  • 2016 – OUR land people stories
  • 2017 – Bennelong[14]
  • 2018 – Dubboo - life of a songman[15]
  • 2018 – Dark Emu[16]
  • 2019 - Spirit[17]

People

See also

References
  1. Tan, Teresa (13 December 2019). "This dance company is keeping ancient Indigenous knowledge alive and well in the 21st century". ABC News. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  2. Burridge, Stephanie (October 2002). "Dreaming the future: the emergence of Bangarra Dance Theatre". Australasian Drama Studies (41): 77–89. ISSN 0810-4123.
  3. "Bangarra Dance Theatre (1989 – ) at Australia Dancing". Archived from the original on 10 April 2007. Retrieved 22 April 2007.
  4. Jefferson, Arts Editor Dee (16 July 2018). "Sydney Theatre Company the biggest winner at this year's Helpmann Awards". ABC News. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  5. "Welcome to Knowledge Ground - Bangarra Dance Theatre". Bangarra Dance Theatre - Knowledge Ground. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  6. Toured the UK in 2006, Hutera, Donald (18 September 2006), "Bush", The Times, London, ISSN 0140-0460, retrieved 27 September 2007
  7. Balfour, Tim (4 April 2009), "Fire in the Belly" (PDF), The West Australian, archived from the original (PDF) on 18 July 2011, retrieved 11 October 2009
  8. Balfour, Tim (2 June 2009), "Talented Dancers Embody Culture" (PDF), The West Australian, archived from the original (PDF) on 18 July 2011, retrieved 11 October 2009
  9. Pybus, Cassandra (10 May 2008). "A savage lesson in 'civility'". Arts reviews. Retrieved 20 June 2008.
  10. Hutera, Donald (27 September 2008), "Stephen Page on the Rites and wrongs of an historical divide: An Australian version of Stravinsky's ballet with Aborigines is a powerful symbol of reconciliation", The Times, London, ISSN 0140-0460, retrieved 27 September 2007
  11. "Aboriginal ballet hits Paris stage". ABC. 30 September 2008. Archived from the original on 3 October 2008. Retrieved 30 September 2008.
  12. Majhid Heath, (11 September 2009), Review: Bangarra Dance Theatre performance of Fire – A retrospective, Indigenous Arts & Events: Performance, Australian Broadcasting Corporation Archived 26 February 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 28 September 2010
  13. "Patyegarang's gift". Deadly Vibe. 208. June 2014. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  14. "Bennelong". AMPAG. Retrieved 16 March 2017.
  15. "Dubboo — life of a songman | Bangarra". www.bangarra.com.au. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
  16. "Dark Emu | Bangarra". www.bangarra.com.au. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
  17. "Spirit | Bangarra". www.bangara.com.au. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
  18. David Page, Composer at Bangarra Dance Theatre. Retrieved 29 April 2016
  19. Linda Morris, (29 April 2016), Bangarra Dance Theatre shattered by death of composer David Page, Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 29 April 2016

Further reading
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