★★★★☆ Kinship and art transcend pain and loss in diverse dance triptych.

Playhouse, Sydney Opera House
June 18, 2016

The tragic and sudden death in April of composer David Page left the whole of the Australian arts scene reeling, but especially Bangarra Dance Theatre, whose identity and sound he had helped to forge over 25 years. A proud descendant of the Nunukul people and the Munuldjali clan of the Yugambeh from South East Queensland, kinship mattered to David, as it does for the whole of Bangarra who are still learning to come to terms with the loss of their songman. It seems appropriate then that the first work they have had to complete without him should touch so keenly on bereavement, family and, most importantly, on identity, tradition, hope and singleness of vision.

^{Bangarra Ensemble in Nyapanyapa. Photo by Jhuny Boy-Borja}

In OUR land people stories, four choreographers have come together to create three very different works. The first, Macq, is an uncompromising exploration of Governor Lachlan Macquarie, a figure often held up by white Australians for his open-minded dealings with Aboriginal tribes, yet who in 1816 ordered the brutal massacre...