After ten months off stage because of Covid , Bangarra presented SPIRIT , one of the highlights of this year’s Sydney Festival , at the brand-new, pop-up stage at Barangaroo Reserve.
The work draws on Bangarra’s past 30 years of repertoire and looks at the connection between Country and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to the land and their traditions involving respect for humans , flora and fauna and the order of the universe. In SPIRIT , Dreamtime creation stories are interwoven with vignettes of urban black social issues. All of the stories , Artistic Director Stephen Page says ,” are from ancestors’ stories, all of them connected to a specific mob or community around the country.”
Jennifer Irwin’s spectacular, glorious costumes (some of them amazingly textured) are combined with very atmospheric scenic content design by Jacob Nash lighting design Matt Cox and video design David Bergman .Original set designs were by John Matkovic, Stephen Page, Jacob Nash, Peter England and original lighting designs by Joseph Mercurio, Karen Norris, Matt Cox.
SPIRIT is a haunting, powerful and evocative performance splendidly danced . Choreographically it combines contemporary style as set by Stephen Page and Bernadette Walong-Sene, ( for instance one can see the influence of Graeme Murphy) with traditional music and dance by Djakapurra Munyarryun.The soundtrack by David Page and Steve Francis is a blend of present day and traditional – techno beats and rhythms alternate with didgeridoo , bird calls ,voice overs and traditional songs.
The choreography is at times extremely demanding .The magnificent ensemble of seventeen dancers are fluid , with at times angular arms , luxurious stretches and at times seem to be almost boneless. In the traditional dances there is waving and sweeping of leaves , stamping , slithery floorwork , high jumps , and posing like a kangaroo, for instance.
Much use is made of white ochre and emphasis is also placed on traditional face and body painting .
Led by the ghostly Elma Kris as an Elder , passing on ‘ women’s business ‘, SPIRIT begins with a 20-minute excerpt from Brolga, the 2001 work inspired by an ancient Dreaming of a young girl who transforms from human to brolga, publicized as ‘the original Swan Lake’ (in which you can see a Matthew Bourne influence ). It then segues to passages from other productions, such as Ochres (1995); Bush (2003); Skin (2000); and Walkabout (2002). SPIRIT examines the stress for Indigenous people trying to exist in two worlds, acknowledging the searing sadness of the past while attempting to face the future yet still upholding traditional values.
SPIRIT evokes images of exploration , tension , belligerence , tenderness and desolation where mythical apparitions and the environment are central.
The piece concludes with Nyapanyapa (2016), based on paintings of Yirrkala artist Nyapanyapa Yunupingu .
The songline continues.
SPIRIT : A RETROSPECTIVE 2021
The Headland at Barangaroo Reserve, Hickson Road, Barangaroo (enter via The Cutaway)
Season: 20 – 24 January 2021
https://www.sydneyfestival.org.au/events/spirit
Following its Sydney season, Spirit: a retrospective 2021 will be presented at Griffith Regional Theatre (Saturday 13 February), Orange Civic Centre (Wednesday 17 February), Tamworth Regional Entertainment Centre (Saturday 20 February) and The Art House, Wyong (Thursday 24 & Friday 25 February).