Sheltering | Bangarra Dance Theatre
Images: Daniel Boud
Bangarra Dance Theatre’s Sheltering presents a triple bill of contemporary dance - Keeping Grounded by emerging creative Glory Tuohy-Daniell, a dance-film Brown Boys directed by Daniel Mateo and Cass Mortimer Eipper, and lastly, Sheoak, an older work that premiered in 2015, choreographed by Frances Rings (current Artistic Director and Co-CEO).
Keeping Grounded is a fresh dance piece with a clear story to tell about the importance of both physical and emotional connection to country and culture. It felt very modern, the dancing was often punchy and energetic and there was interesting use of clothing as props throughout. The partner work in this piece appeared effortless, with the dancers floating through some very technical movements with incredible grace and control. The highlight was a giant net, rigged in a couple of different ways to allow the dancers to perform under, through and on top of it. This set design by Shana O’bren is a stunning piece that when combined with some highly effective lighting choices (Karen Norris), brings colour and texture to an otherwise empty stage. It is a creative playground for the performers and was very captivating to watch.
Brown Boys was a short 6 minute dance-film with a single performer (Daniel Mateo, also the choreographer and director) reciting a personal poem about stereotypes and youth as a brown boy. With dirt, traditional mats, and skin stark against the background of a bright white space the film is interesting in its own right while also functioning as an intermission of sorts between the two longer dancer pieces. It was a beautifully shot piece with strong cultural imagery.
Images: Daniel Boud
Sheoak felt more like an epic tale of a spirit than one singular idea. The Keeper (described in the program as a “figure representing both ancestor and sentinel” and the consistent character throughout the piece) moves through a few different scenes with rotating ensemble dancers, each scene with a distinct mood. Leafless branches that towered over the dancers were both suspended from the ceiling, swung and carried, invoking images of dead dry land, rib cages, and burden. The costumes too featured rib imagery, before later swapped out for something more ethereal as the mood shifted from a darker mournful opening into something lighter and otherworldly. I particularly enjoyed this later ghostly scene, with a translucent fabric divider and white ochre transforming dancers into apparitions. As an outsider to First Nations culture, I did feel like I was missing some cultural context required to fully appreciate and understand this piece, but it was really engaging regardless of that gap in my knowledge.
The Bangarra dancers move beautifully as an ensemble throughout all three pieces. The choreography is often technical and dense, yet they move incredibly well together without losing individual expression in the process. I can recognise what look to me like references to traditional dance styles, mixed in with a more common contemporary dance language. The result is choreography that feels both distinctly Indigenous as well as captivatingly modern and fresh. The soundtrack too is what you would expect from contemporary dance, while seamlessly incorporating recognisably First Nations elements.
After experiencing this triple bill of First Nations excellence, it was easy to see why Bangarra have been such an enduring contributor to the Australian contemporary dance landscape.
Sheltering played 9-18 July 2026 at QPAC’s Glasshouse Theatre.
Images: Daniel Boud
