In 2014 Bangarra Dance Theatre celebrates its 25th anniversary. To mark this significant milestone the company is taking part in Vivid Sydney, presenting a huge light installation called The spirit of Patyegarang for the length of the festival.
The installation takes the form of a large-scale three-minute video projected onto the sandstone blocks of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. As Stephen Page, Bangarra’s artistic director, says, the subject is particularly apt for that site and for the occasion.
Patyegarang was a young Eora woman who befriended First Fleet astronomer, Lieutenant William Dawes, as he was observing the skies from the promontory that now bears his name - Dawes Point, at the western end of the bridge. “The spirit of Patyegarang is Bangarra’s way of telling a story that is so important to Australia’s past by re-awakening the spirit of an Eora woman on her land, remembering 'first contact' with a moving encounter: one of curiosity, exchange and understanding,” he says. “This is also a gift to the Eora nation and the community who adopted Bangarra on their country.”
The light installation is a prelude to Bangarra Dance Theatre’s forthcoming production of Patyegarang, which will have its world premiere at the Sydney Opera House from June 13 to July 5 before touring the major cities. See www.sydneyoperahouse.com/bangarra