Combine the raw and complex forms of indigenous dance and movement
with background animations, violin accompaniment and Belgian direction, and Marrugeku’s
remarkable presence on stage is reinforced again as a combination of music, storytelling
and dance. Marrugeku are recognised as leading change makers in intercultural
contemporary dance, dedicated to Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians developing
dance languages that surprise audiences, generate thought and consistently
impress.
Over three nights (30 May – 1 June) at Carriageworks, the
company presents Burrbgaja Yalirra (Dancing Forwards), a triple bill of solo
works curated by Marrugeku’s artistic directors Dalisa Pigram and Rachael
Swain. All three works explore the complexity of exchanging privileges between
races and culture, aiming to challenge the mainstream understanding of history
and relationships with the land.
Marrugeku performers come from diverse backgrounds and
disciplines, collaborating to co-create each production as they tour throughout
urban and remote Australia, while also including other Indigenous contexts
internationally and throughout the world.
 |
| Edwin Lee Mulligan |
The first work, Ngarlimbah (You are as much a part of me as
I am of you) is a spoken word and animated video work conceived by
Walmajarri/Nyikina painter and poet, Edwin Lee Mulligan, in collaboration with award-winning media artist Sohan Ariel Hayes. Ngarlimbah tells the stories
of two dingoes, the calm Yungngora and the dark dog Jirrilbil whose final
resting place is a billabong near Noonkanbah, Central Kimberley where
waterlilies grow. Yungngora and Jirrilbil visit Edwin in his dreams, responding
to contemporary concerns in his community.
 |
| Miranda Wheen |
In Miranda, Miranda Wheen herself performs a solo dance work
choreographed with and directed by Serge Aimé Coulibaly from Burkina Faso and
Belgium. Miranda takes as a starting point the final, initially
unpublished, chapter of Picnic at Hanging Rock and the fate of Wheen’s
fictional namesake ‘Miranda’ who seemingly disappeared in the Australian
landscape. Miranda explores the stumbling, often awkward and painful
position of settler Australians grappling with understanding Indigenous
Australian experience and perceptions of land, while negotiating their own
troubled belonging to it.
 |
| Eric Avery |
The final work, Dancing with Strangers, sees dancer and
violinist Eric Avery collaborate with Belgian co-choreographer Koen Augustijnen.
The work explores the first colonial contact period, including early and
missed chances for exchange in language, dance and sharing knowledge. Eric imagines
where we might be now if there had been music and dance made between the two
cultures and explores the dislocation of the indigenous people resulting from
the lack of such negotiated contact.
The combined works over three nights create an inspiring realisation of an opportunity
lost, recognising the colonial mindset of conquer and control (both of life and
the land), but articulating a message of how thing might have been, as well as what
they ought to be.
TICKETS:
Burrbgaja Yalirra (Dancing Forwards) was commissioned
by Perth Institute for Contemporary Arts and Carriageworks.
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