Bangarra Dance Theatre has announced Sheltering, a new triple bill touring nationally from May to July 2026.
The program brings together three works, Keeping Grounded, Brown Boys and Sheoak, each exploring the relationship between people, Country, culture and intergenerational storytelling. It will tour to Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
For Bangarra Artistic Director and co-CEO Frances Rings, the program places the idea of shelter within a First Nations framework.
“Sheltering draws deeply from First Nations perspectives, exploring the intricate bonds between people and place through the symbolic sheltering branches of a tree,” Rings said.
“Intergenerational storytelling is an important part of my artistic vision for Bangarra. In Sheltering, we see the different perspectives and styles of how Bangarra choreographers from past and present create work. Each is unique and reflects not only different eras of Bangarra’s 36-year legacy, but new forms, technologies, innovations, and new media that offers wider platforms for storytelling and expression.”
Keeping Grounded, choreographed by Indjalandji-Dhidhanu and Alyewarre woman Glory Tuohy-Daniell, grew out of Bangarra’s Dance Clan 2023 and has been reimagined for the main stage. The work explores the challenge of remaining culturally and physically grounded in a world increasingly shaped by technological change.
Brown Boys, directed by Daniel Mateo and Cass Mortimer Eipper, is a film work first presented in Dance Clan 2024. Inspired by Mateo’s own poetry, the work blends dance, narrative and cinema to consider identity, belonging and cultural connection through the lens of Mateo’s experience as a Gamilaroi and Tongan man.
The program also includes Sheoak, choreographed by Mirning woman Frances Rings, with music by the late Munaldjali and Nunukul composer David Page. First premiered in 2015 as part of Bangarra’s double bill Lore, under the artistic direction of Stephen Page, the work draws on the sheoak tree as a symbol of strength, adaptability and cultural meaning.
The inclusion of Sheoak also honours David Page’s creative legacy. Bangarra has advised that the work includes the name, voice and creative legacy of a person who has passed.
Rings said the program reflects Bangarra’s commitment to continuity and renewal.
“In commissioning fresh voices, Bangarra cultivates continuity between tradition and innovation, memory and emergence.”
Sheltering opens at Canberra Theatre Centre on Ngunnawal Country from May 23 to 27, before touring to the Sydney Opera House on Gadigal Country from June 3 to 13, Arts Centre Melbourne on Wurundjeri Country from June 18 to 27, and QPAC’s Glasshouse Theatre on Meanjin from July 9 to 18.