Bangarra Dance Theatre: OUR Land People Stories
Bangarra Dance Theatre: OUR land people stories
Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House, 16 June
Earlier this year, Bangarra Dance Theatre and the broader Australian performing arts community took a blow in the sudden death of their long time music director, David Page. The “OUR land people stories” program is dedicated to him, and its richness is a measure of the depth and resilience of the Bangarra community.
As a triple bill of three separate works, each with choreography and music from a different artist, the only thing they share is the collective efforts of set designer Jacob Nash, costume designer Jennifer Irwin and lighting designer Matt Cox. While Bangarra Dance Theatre has a reputation for developing productions that effectively synthesise dance, music and design, I cannot remember seeing a program quite as visually spectacular as this one. A significant investment has been made in costumes, props and set design for “OUR land people stories” and it really pays off.
The program opens with Macq, choreographed by Jasmin Sheppard in 2013, with music by David Page. It is based on historical events, focussing in particular on the Appin massacre of 1816, and questioning the legacy of colonial ‘heroes’ like NSW Governor Lachlan Macquarie in the process. There are some very powerful scenes in this work, and a much clearer narrative thread than is usually given in the largely atmospheric nature of much of Bangarra’s repertoire. This is greatly enhanced by the use of costume to identify diverse characters, and the use of simple, moveable props like a long narrow table and two chairs.
David Page’s score incorporates spoken text from Lachlan Macquarie’s diary entries, now held in the Mitchell Library, and the movement Jasmin Sheppard has developed for the colonial authority figures is a contorted parody of European mannerisms and posture. Overall, Sheppard shows a rare compositional talent for maximising drama in her placement of dancers on the stage. Nicola Sabatino played the part of a grieving woman with pathos and sensitivity while Daniel Riley and Beau Dean Riley Smith danced an antagonistic duet to great effect.
The second work, Miyagan, was co-choreogaphed by Daniel Riley and Beau Dean Riley Smith. It is about kinship, and while the movement itself is aesthetically pleasing and the long, feathered boughs that hang low over the stage are visually striking, the work itself is opaque. The written program notes some interesting facts, including that each emu feather hood took three days to complete, and briefly outlining the different levels of kinship that were reflected in the naming of different sections of Miyagan, but left me needing to know more in order to make sense of it.
The final work, artistic director Stephen Page’s Nyapanyapa is based on the life and work of acclaimed painter, Nyapanyapa Yunupingu, with music by Steve Francis. The opening section, "Buffalo Story", was very well done. Elma Kris, in the role of Nyapanyapa, relived the childhood experience of being attacked by a buffalo that is the narrative basis of one of Nyapanyapa’s best known works. The way Bangarra’s dancers evoked the essence of different animals through their movements was astonishing and is a testament to Page’s skill as a choreographer and the dancers’ shared commitment to their roles. Beau Dean Riley Smith and Rikki Mason as playful dogs, Jasmin Sheppard and Tara Robertson as sinuous fish and Waangenga Blanco as the buffalo were all very good. Another highlight was the "Lost Wendy’s" section where each dancer manipulated a large puppet. Here the boundary between the dance and Nyapanyapa’s painting seemed particularly blurred - but in a good way.
See it if you can.
- GERALDINE HIGGINSON
"OUR land people stories" plays the Sydney Opera House until 9 July, the State Theatre Centre of WA 20-23 July, Canberra Theatre Centre 28-30 July, QPAC 12-20 August and Arts Centre Melbourne 1-10 September.