On Centre Stage with Douglas Kennedy ….Paint it Blak
Bangarra Dance Theatre’s latest work, Blak, came to Brisbane this week
and wooed a capacity audience at the Queensland Performing Art
Centre’s Playhouse Theatre.
The 70-minute production, which is played out in three dark scenes,
combines the musical talents of composers David Page and Paul Mac
with the choreography of Daniel Riley McKinley and artistic director
Stephen Page.
John Kotzas and Stephen Page
The production’s wow factor came into play in the final 20 minutes of
the show when the work of the company’s 14 dancers fused
magnificently with the music and a stunning series of visual effects
against a towering rock formation.
The New South Wales based company, which has a national and
International following, has close links to Brisbane as the Page brothers
– David and Stephen – originally came from the Queensland capital.
Stephen Page has been the driving force behind the company since
1991 and today it stages more than 110 performances a year
melding contemporary artistic expression with traditional cultural
themes.
The dancers of Bangara.
Brisbane now has a reputation for its work in the area of Aboriginal
and Torres Strait performance art through institutions such as the
Queensland Theatre Company (QTC) and training establishments such
as the Aboriginal Centre for the Performing Arts (ACPA).
ACPA takes students from regional and remote areas (32 per cent),
South-east Queensland (44 percent) and interstate (24 percent) and
gives then a well-rounded education in performance art.
Meanwhile, QTC’s artistic director, Murri man Wesley Enoch, has a
strong commitment to giving indigenous talent a theatrical voice in the
Queensland community.
Wesley Enoch and Douglas Kennedy
Deborah Brown and Minster of Arts Ian Walker
Enoch is the first indigenous person to achieve the status of a state
Company artistic director.
Bangarra’s Blak will be at the Playhouse theatre until July 27.
