Bangarra Dance Theatre: Ochres -
Bay 20, Carriageworks, 27 November -
The opening night of Bangarra Dance Theatre’s first season at Carriageworks in Redfern was clearly tied up with emotion and nostalgia for those with a long term connection to the company. Before the performance began speeches were made by board members of both Carriageworks and Bangarra Dance Theatre, as well as by the artistic director of Bangarra Dance Theatre, Stephen Page. In his speech, Page emphasised the importance of Redfern as Bangarra’s “stomping ground” in its early years as well as its centrality as the political heart of Aboriginal Australia.
The return of Ochres to Bangarra Dance Theatre’s repertoire after such a long break is also significant as the making of new works each year in this highly creative company leaves little room for revivals of older ones. What makes this work special and worthy of reviving at this point is the 21st anniversary of its premiere in 1994, when the popular reception Ochres received placed Bangarra Dance Theatre on the map – their first big success. Choreographed jointly by Bernadette Walong-Sene and Stephen Page (with some traditional choreography by Djakapurra Munyarryun) this is a relatively brief, but well-structured work.
The title Ochres is reflected in the naming of each section with a different colour and the first section “Yellow” (choreographed by Bernadette Walong-Sene) opens with a dancer (Elma Kris) alone and bathed in yellow light whilst slowly and carefully applying yellow body paint. Before long the other women join her (the “Yellow” section is danced only by women) and the more dynamic movement begins. As the opening section “Yellow” consists mainly of drawn out and heavily weighted sliding movements across the floor and Deborah Brown and Tara Gower were the best of a strong cast.
In contrast the second section “Black” (choreographed by Stephen and Russell Page, with traditional choreography by Djakapurra Munyarryun) is danced only by Bangarra’s male dancers and is more vigorous and athletic in style. Cultural advisor and guest performer Djakapurra Munyarryun played a central role in “Black” (the equivalent of Elma Kris in “Yellow”) and seemed to exercise authority over the other men throughout this section. Given that it has been 21 years since Ochres premiered it is probably not surprising that Djakapurra Munyarryun was the only original cast member to perform in this revival. But there were many familiar names in the list of original performers provided - from Lea Francis to Kathryn Dunn, Christine Anu, David Page and Frances Rings – perhaps a sign of just how successful Bangarra’s mentoring and development of their artists has been.
The third section, “Red”, (choreographed by Stephen Page and Bernadette Walong-Sene) is really the strongest and could stand alone without the other sections as part of a mixed program of work in the future. Featuring three duets and one trio that explore different aspects of love in male-female relationships, I particularly enjoyed the playful humour of Nicola Sabatino, Yolanda Lowatta and Beau Dean Riley Smith in their trio and the dramatic intensity of Tara Robertson and Luke Currie-Richardson in their duet.
Following the final section “White”, artistic director Stephen Page stepped back onstage during the applause to briefly acknowledge each dancer by name in a demonstration of Bangarra’s warm camaraderie and sense of family.
-GERALDINE HIGGINSON
Photos: Jhuny-Boy Borja
Ochres runs until 5 December.