Bangarra Goes Regional with Clan

After recently returning from a highly successful UK tour, which culminated in a sell-out season at London's prestigious Sadler's Wells, Bangarra Dance Theatre is in the midst of its busiest year to date.

Currently touring True Stories to the country's large cities with spellbinding performances in Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra, Wollongong and Newcastle, Bangarra will now present True Stories to the Sydney audience for a five week season beginning on August 3rd at the Sydney Opera House.

True Stories is a double bill, choreographed by Frances Rings and Elma Kris, which delivers quintessential Australian tales taken from the desolate wastelands of Maralinga and the rolling seas and volcanic sands of the Torres Strait Islands.
After a strong Sydney season, Bangarra will then embrace our regional towns with a tour of their award winning work, Clan.

Clan is also a double bill, and it features the company's exciting blend of physical artistry and breathtaking visuals. Created by award winning choreographer Frances Rings, Clan is dance theatre at its most captivating. The Clan double bill consists of Unaipon and Rations.

Unaipon (pronounced You-nigh-pon) is inspired by the extraordinary passion and genius of Aboriginal inventor, writer and philosopher David Unaipon who is featured on our $50 note. Described as 'Australia's Leonardo Da Vinci', Unaipon (1872-1967) is credited with being the first Aboriginal writer to be published and with developing modern shearing shears. As a passionate scholar of theology and philosophy, Unaipon argued that Aboriginal traditions should be considered equal to those of all the great cultures of the world. Rings' work Unaipon was first performed at the 2004 Adelaide Festival of the Arts and went on to win a 2004 Australian Dance Award for Outstanding Achievement in Choreography.

"Most Australians recognise David Unaipon's face from the Australian $50 note but know little about this extraordinary man. People like Unaipon have always fascinated me - they straddled Aboriginal and white culture, they lived in two worlds. They were brave enough to walk in a land that had no track and they made a track for us to follow. This is our history, a history shared by all Australians," says choreographer Frances Rings.

Rations explores mission and station life in colonial Australia, depicting a remarkable history of struggle and survival. Rations, Frances Rings' stunning choreographic debut for Bangarra, was first performed in 2002 as part of Bangarra's production Walkabout and went on to win two coveted Helpmann awards for Best New Australian Work and Score.

Adelaide-born Frances Rings is a descendant of the Kokatha Tribe and is also of German descent. She first joined Bangarra in 1993 and has since remained an integral part of Bangarra's growth into Australia's premier Indigenous performing arts company.

With a lineup of new talent Bangarra is set to thrill. This year Bangarra has introduced three stunning new young Indigenous dancers, Jasmin Sheppard, a descendant of the Walangamma tribe in the Gulf of Carpentaria, Daniel Riley McKinley, a descendant of the Wiradjuri people from the Wellington area in western NSW and Katina Olsen, a descendant of the Waka Waka people in the Central Qld Region.
Waangenga Blanco has also made a welcome return to Bangarra, joining the current company line-up comprising Sidney Saltner, Elma Kris, Yolande Brown, Patrick Thaiday, Deborah Brown, Jhuny-Boy Borja, Leonard Mickelo and Tara Gower.

Regional readers, make sure you get a ticket! Clan is a chance to see an Australian award winning work right in your back yard!

Clan Tour Dates:
Port Pirie 25 Sept - 26 Sept
Whyalla 28 Sept - 29 Sept
Renmark 2 Oct - 3 Oct
Mt Gambier 5 Oct - 6 Oct
Launceston 10 Oct - 13 Oct
Shepparton 17 Oct - 19 Oct
Dandenong 22 Oct - 23 Oct
Sale 25 Oct - 26 Oct
Warragul 29 Oct - 30 Oct
Albury 1 Nov - 3 Nov
Wagga Wagga 6 Nov - 7 Nov
Orange 9 Nov - 10 Nov

Visit www.bangarra.com.au

banner photo courtesy of www.flickr.com DWinton P1010045ryy