Bangarra prepares ‘OUR land people stories’

Miyagan, the second piece of Bangarra Dance Theatre’s OUR land people stories, has begun to take shape as dancers Daniel Riley and Beau Dean Riley Smith have been recently exploring the Aboriginal kinship system.

The full production of OUR land people stories will be presented by Bangarra at Sydney Opera House (June 16 – July 2), the State Theatre Centre of Western Australia (July 20 – 23), Canberra Theatre Centre (July 28 – 30), QPAC (August 12 – 20) and Arts Centre Melbourne (September 1-10.)

In addition to the piece by the Rileys, OUR land people stories will feature two other works, one by Jasmin Sheppard and the other by Artistic Director Stephen Page. 

In his work named Nyapanyapa, Page tells the story of internationally acclaimed visual artist Nyapanyapa Yunupingu from North East Arnhem Land. The piece draws inspiration from her incredible life story and paintings.

Sheppard’s Macq, which was technically first performed in 2013 during Dance Clan 3, will explore the 1816 March of Macquarie, a historical chapter that tragically decimated Sydney’s Aboriginal community.

To see these stories come to life, book tickets to OUR land people stories at bangarra.com.au. The production will feature music by David Page (for Macq), Paul Mac (for Miyagan) and Steve Francis (for Nyapanyapa.) Jacob Nash
 will design the set while Jennifer Irwin
 creates the costumes and Matt Cox designs the lights.

Photo courtesy of Bangarra Dance Theatre.