Bangarra Dance Theatre | Mixed Repertory: Working Rehearsal

ne of Australia’s leading Indigenous performing arts companies,

Bangarra DanceTheatre, is known for its unique fusion of traditional

Indigenous Australian history and culture with contemporary dance technique.

In thisWorking Rehearsal, Bangarrawill showhow it combines respect for tradition

with newways of expressing the stories, hopes and concerns of their culture.

Welcome to Cuesheet,

your guide to Bangarra

DanceTheater’s

Working Rehearsal of

Awakenings. Cuesheet

is published by the

Education Department

of the John F. Kennedy

Center for the

Performing Arts in

Washington, D.C.

DANCETHEATRE

BANGARRA

Date: September25, 2008 5:5

0:04 PM EDT

Subject: FYI on Indigenous Arts/

Bangarra

When you seeBangarra, yo

u’ll see a performance in

which sacredmyths and

traditions of the past are c

ombined withmodern-day

influences. The company

uses

dance and song drawn fro

m the rituals and symbolism

of Indigenous Australian l

ife,

combined with contempo

rary styles and technique f

rom modern dance.

To better understand Bang

arra’s work, it is helpful to

know a little aboutAustralia’s

Indigenous cultures. Arou

nd the world,Indigenous peoples are generally

considered tobe those gro

ups who inhabit (or inhabi

ted) a geographic region w

ith

which they have the earlie

st historical connection. To

day’s Indigenous Australians

are the descendents of th

ese first inhabitants of the

Australian continent and it

s

nearby islands.

Most Indigenous Australia

ns were nomadic, moving

from place to place within the

territorial boundaries of th

eir clan, or kinship group.

Their knowledge, tradition

s and

laws were not usually writ

ten down. Instead, informa

tion was passed from person

to person across generat

ions, often through storyte

lling, song and dance. The

se

practices formone of the ol

dest continuing art traditio

ns in the world.

Bangarra Dance Theatre

was established to embrac

e and sharethe cultures o

f the

Indigenous peoples of Au

stralia. It works with the id

eas, characters, and even

ts

found in Indigenous Austra

lian stories, the movemen

ts and patterns of tradition

al or

ritual dances, and the mu

sic and songcommon to …

The term Indigenous Australians

includes both the Torres Strait

Islanders (from the islands

between north Australia and New

Guinea) and the Aboriginal

People, who live in mainland

Australia,Tasmania, and some of

the other adjacent islands.

Just as they always have, Indigenous

Australians live throughout Australia.

Some live as they have for thousands

of years,in their rural ancestral

homelands, but the majority live in

modern urban centers.

DANCE THEAT

New Guinea

Tasmania

Torres Strait Islands

AAFFRR IICCAA

EEUURROOPPEE

AASSIIAA

DANCE THEATRE

What is a Working Rehearsal?Touring artists often have little time before their first performance to get to know an unfamiliartheater. A Working Rehearsal is a time for a company to work out last-minute details, get usedto a new space, and refine sections of their program. There are sometimes interruptions fortechnical adjustments, but usually, a Working Rehearsal looks like any other performance.

Unlike ballet, which strives to create an illusion of weightlessness

through lifts, leaps and pointe work, modern dance celebrates the

connection of the dancer to the ground with drops, floor work

and other emphasis on gravity. For Bangarra, this relationship

between the ground further underlines their Indigenous roots.

Many of the charactersthat appear in Aboriginalstories take the form ofanimals that areparticular to Australia,like the brolga, orAustralian crane.

“Awakenings” USA/Canada 2008Bangarra Dance Theatre CompanyDIRECTOR’S NOTES

ACT ONE – 44 MINUTES“BOOMERANG”“Looking” (Nama)

A family returns to the land – looking through the eyes of their spiritual elders.“Canoe” (Nukurr) A fusion of the old and new – men reflect on the way their brothers and fathers hunted in the past.“Manta Ray” (Malarrar)Explores the significance and many roles of the Manta Ray – totem, prey, and medicine.“Hunting and Gathering” An abstract portrayal of traditional hunting and gathering methods, inspired by Aboriginal

women who nurture and maintain the land – drawing nourishment and medicines from

the harsh Australian earth. “Black”Aboriginal boys are taken from their mothers for their ritual passage from childhood to

manhood. It is a journey where they are shown secret-sacred ceremonies. The pain of

the initiation can only be viewed from a distance… this is men’s business.

ACT TWO – 35 MINUTES“BROLGA” (Gudurrku) Inspired by a visit to the Brolga Plains in NE Arnhem Land, where the fresh water meets

the saltwater, this piece tells the ancient story of a young girl who enters a sacred ground that

belongs to the brolga.

She mimics the birds, and discovers their beauty and grace. But she has to learn to respect the secret

brolga knowledge. The traditional spirit guides and protects her, but he has also posed a challenge for

her on this journey from childhood to adulthood. The guide sings her to sleep, recalling another realm in the Dreamtime. He prepares her

spiritually for the ritual painting. She emerges with the totem markings of the brolga.

She is transformed.

This is a two-part program; together, the pieces illustrate the joys and obstaclesencountered as the present generationstrives to respect its ancestral past.

This work uses movement and song to recall age-old spiritual connections to the earth.

symbolic protector

The dancers tell the story of a young girl's initiation into womanhood, revisiting her transformation at a sacred site where the river meets the sea.

Also known as the Australian crane.

The stories of the Aboriginal People are often rooted in the Dreamtime, the time of creation. There are many stories that link the creation of Australia’s land to the actions of animals, spirits, events and people in the Dreamtime.

Cultural Preservation,Cultural RevelationMusic, song and dance have been an essential part of

Indigenous culture for thousands of years. But it is a complexbalancing act to simultaneously preserve and honor Indigenousarts while creating new, contemporary danceworks. The artists ofBangarra are experienced in both Aboriginal andWestern forms oftheater, dance andmusic, allowing thema great deal of flexibilityas they create newworks.

Bangarra’s success can also be linked to theNational Aboriginal &Islander Skills Development Association (NAISDA), a group startedin the 1970s to help advance and preserve dance amongIndigenous people and their descendents, andwheremost ofBangarra's dancers trained. In addition,many of Bangarra’s worksare developed in consultationwith Clan elders, who form thesource of the company’s traditional knowledge.

Stephen Page, himself an alumnus of NAISDA, was appointedartistic director in 1991; under Page, the company has developed

a style that draws on both traditional and urbanAborginal cultures.

Think about…

A key historical distinction betweentraditional dance and contemporaryWestern dance is its function. Indigenousor traditional dance is closely linked tospiritual and cultural practice, and themovements and narrative are often partof rituals or community life.

Contemporary theatrical dance, on theother hand, is designed for the stage;while it can be based on ritual and lifeexperiences, it is a performance,presented for an audience to observe.

Howdoes Bangarra fuseWesterndance and the traditions ofAustralia’s Aboriginal people?B

ANGARRADANCE

THEATRE

The U.S. Department of Educationsupports approximately one-third ofthe budget for the Kennedy CenterEducation Department. The contentsof this Cuesheet do not necessarilyrepresent the policy of the U.S.Department of Education, and youshould not assume endorsement bythe Federal Government.

The U.S. Department of Educationsupports approximately one-third ofthe budget for the Kennedy CenterEducation Department. The contentsof this Cuesheet do not necessarilyrepresent the policy of the U.S.Department of Education, and youshould not assume endorsement bythe Federal Government.

Stephen A. SchwarzmanChairman

Michael M. KaiserPresident

Darrell M. AyersVice President, Education

Cuesheets are funded in partthrough the support of theU.S. Department of Education;Verizon Foundation; Estate ofJoseph R. Applegate; The Morrisand Gwendolyn CafritzFoundation; the Carter andMelissa Cafritz Charitable Trust;Citi Foundation; DC Commissionon the Arts and Humanities; Dr.Deborah Rose and Dr. Jan A. J.Stolwijk; Mr. Martin K. Alloy andMs. Daris M. Clifton; the HarrisFamily Foundation; Newman'sOwn Foundation; the ClarkWinchcole Foundation;Chevy Chase Bank; The ClarkCharitable Foundation, and thePresident's Advisory Committeeon the Arts.

ResourcesCompanyWeb sitewww.bangarra.com.au/

Australia Country Informationwww.palclub.org/worldonlineeducation/australia.htm

ABC Education pageswww.abc.net.au/indigenous/education/default.htm

Cuesheets are produced byARTSEDGE, a program of theKennedy Center EducationDepartment.

Designer: Carla Badaracco

For more information about theperforming arts and artseducation, visit ourWeb sites:www.kennedy-center.org/educationwww.artsedge.kennedy-center.org

Questions, comments?Write us [email protected].

© 2008, The John F. KennedyCenter for the Performing Arts











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Bangarra Dance Theatre | Mixed Repertory: Working Rehearsal