About
Bangarra Dance Theatre is an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organization and one of Australia’s leading performing arts companies, widely acclaimed for its powerful dancing, distinctive theatrical voice, and utterly unique soundscapes, music, and design.
Founded in 1989, Bangarra is a company of contemporary dancers, drawing on 65,000 years of culture. Each dancer is a professionally trained, dynamic artist with a proud Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander background, from various locations across the country. Relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities are the heart of Bangarra, with repertoire created on Country and stories gathered from respected Community Elders. Authentic storytelling, outstanding technique, and deeply moving performances are Bangarra’s unique signature.
Artistic Director and Co-CEO Frances Rings leads the company in their mission to promote awareness and understanding of First Nations cultures. Every year, the company tours a world premiere work across Australia and embarks on an international tour. Bangarra is at home performing on Country, in tiny venues in regional centers and on the world’s most iconic stages.
Bangarra Dance Theatre is for the hundreds of First Nations Communities across Australia — and for anyone who wants to be a part of their story.
"Bangarra Dance Theatre is a modern dance company unlike any other...remarkably imaginative and richly varied."
- New York Times
"Bangarra Dance Theatre is a modern dance company unlike any other...remarkably imaginative and richly varied."
- New York Times
On Tour
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Terrrain
Choreographed by Frances Rings, Terrain is a breathtaking exploration of Australia's largest salt lake, Kati Thanda – Lake Eyre. The nine-part performance evokes the power of body and land converging to bring spirit to place.
Yuldea
Yuldea explores the moment traditional life collided with the industrial ambition of a growing nation. In 1917, the two halves of the Transcontinental Railway met at the precious water soak on the edge of the Nullarbor, Yuldi Kapi.
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FuturesPast
FuturesPast is structured in three acts—Old World, People, & Country—giving insight into the significant impacts that have challenged First Nations people and the spirit of resilience that has shaped their survival.
Terrain
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Credit: Daniel Boud
Credits
CHOREOGRAPHER
Frances Rings
CULTURAL CONSULTANT
Arabunna Elder Reginald Dodd
COMPOSER
David Page (dec.)
SET DESIGNER
Jacob Nash
COSTUME DESIGNER
Jennifer Irwin
LIGHTING DESIGNER
Karen Norris
Running time: 65 minutes, no interval.
Come, come with us to Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre.
Where the cracked salt blinds and the silence deafens.
Where the long shadows sweep towards the horizon, waiting for the deluge.
Come with us to Country.
Choreographed by Frances Rings, Terrain is a breathtaking exploration of our largest salt lake, Kati Thanda – Lake Eyre. The nine-part performance evokes the power of body and land converging to bring spirit to place.
Stand with us and feel the ancestral ties that bind people to Country: a rich cultural spine stretching through the generations. Watch the waters rise and fall as we reconnect with the energy of land and the resilient spirit of the people who care for its future.
Featuring David Page’s (dec.) irrepressible score, Terrain is an iconic work. The textures of Kati Thanda take shape in Jacob Nash’s sets, Jennifer Irwin’s costumes and lighting by Karen Norris. As Cultural Consultant, Arabunna Elder Reginald Dodd shared with Bangarra his role in caring for the land, waters and precious cultural resources of the region.
Yuldea
Credits
CHOREOGRAPHER
Frances Rings
SET DESIGNER
Elizabeth Gadsby
COSTUME DESIGNER
Jennifer Irwin
LIGHTING DESIGNER
Karen Norris
COMPOSER
Leon Rodgers
GUEST COMPOSER
Electric Fields
MIRNING CULTURAL CONSULTANT
Clem Lawrie
YALATA CULTURAL CONSULTANT
Kumanara Smart (dec.)
CULTURAL ASTRONOMER
Karlie Noon
CULTURAL AUTHORITY
Representatives from the Yalata Anangu Aboriginal Community Council
AERIAL AND ACROBATIC CREATIVE CONSULTANT
Joshua Thomson
Running time: 65 minutes, no interval.
Yuldea awakens the earth and sky worlds to tell the story of the Anangu people of the Great Victorian Desert. Frances Rings’ first work as Bangarra’s Artistic Director is a ceremonial affirmation of history and heritage.
This major new work explores the moment traditional life collided with the industrial ambition of a growing nation. In 1917, the two halves of the Transcontinental Railway met at the precious water soak on the edge of the Nullarbor, Yuldi Kapi.
Yuldea features original music by Leon Rodgers and guest composers multi-award-winning duo Electric Fields. Designers Elizabeth Gadsby (Set), Jennifer Irwin (Costume) and Karen Norris (Lighting) create a desert world on stage.
FuturesPast
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Credit: Daniel Boud
Premiering 2025
For over 65,000 years, the First Nations people of Australia have maintained an unceded connection to Country, deeply rooted in trade, kinship, lore, ceremony, languages, and customs. Interrupted by British rule, disease, and the settlement of traditional lands, colonization threatened to extinguish the very existence of Indigenous cultural life.
FuturesPast is structured in three acts—Old World, People, & Country—giving insight into the significant impacts that have challenged First Nations people and the spirit of resilience that has shaped their survival.