Bangarra Dance Theatre Australia Limited

ABN 96 003 814 006

Pier 4/5 Hickson Road,
Walsh Bay, NSW, 2000
Australia

web: www.bangarra.com.au

Ph: 61 2 9251 5333
Fax: 61 2 9251 5266

email:
bangarra@bangarra.com.au

WALKABOUT

National tour: MELBOURNE VAC Playhouse July 2 to 6; SYDNEY Theatre Royal July 10 to 13;
BRISBANE QPAC Optus Playhouse July 24 to 27

What leads us to walk away from what we know best? Sometimes there is no choice. The hardest journey can often be to rediscover the steps of the original walkabout.
Bangarra's evocative new double bill, Walkabout, will tour to Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane from 2 July, 2002.

This major new Bangarra production will be jointly choreographed by Artistic Director Stephen Page and leading dancer Frances Rings, marking her first major choreographic commission for the company. The season will feature the Bangarra debut of Ningali Lawford, one of our country's most popular and respected Indigenous actors.

Walkabout traces an extraordinary history of Indigenous struggle and survival from the early missions and stations of outback Australia to the neon soaked streets of our modern day cities. The production is a passionate and revealing exploration of the tensions between the spiritual and social forces that shape Indigenous life.

Frances Rings first joined Bangarra in 1993 after graduating from NAISDA and has become the company's leading female dancer. It was while studying at NAISDA that Frances first met Ningali Lawford and so began a long and creative friendship.

The first half of the production, titled Rations and choreographed by Rings, is set in colonial outback Australia. Lured from their homelands, clothed in cast offs and fed an alien diet of flour and sugar, the people find themselves trapped in a cycle of dependency.

In the second half titled Rush, internationally acclaimed choreographer Stephen Page captures the resilience and energy of youth. They struggle to reconcile old ways with new and cleanse the pain of the past. Fresh songlines are being drawn in the ancient soil. Rush is Bangarra at its most poetic and engaging.

WALKABOUT Choreography: Stephen Page & Frances Rings. Music: Steve Francis & David Page. Lighting: Trudy Dalgleish. Costumes: Jennifer Irwin. Set Design: Peter England. Guest Performer: Ningali Lawford. Walkabout features the full Bangarra ensemble including Victor Bramich, Yolande Brown, Elma Kris, Peggy Misi, Russell Page, Frances Rings, Desley Roberts, Sidney Saltner, Peta Strachan and Sani Townson.

STRICTLY LIMITED SEASONS!
MELBOURNE - WORLD PREMIERE
2 - 6 July Playhouse, Victorian Arts Centre Ticketmaster7: 1300 136 166 www.ticketmaster7.com

SYDNEY - COINCIDES WITH NAIDOC WEEK - a national week of celebration of Indigenous arts & culture.
10 - 13 July Theatre Royal Ticketek: 9266 4800 www.ticketek.com.au Groups: 02 8512 9933
A Reserve: Full $52 Conc/Grp $42, B Reserve: Full $46 Conc/Grp $40, C Reserve: All $30
Matinees: As above but all Conc/Grp:$36

BRISBANE
24- - 27 July Optus Playhouse, Queensland Performing Arts Complex Qtix: 136 246 www.qtix.com.au

PUBLICITY EMMA COLLISON Tel: 02 9699 5199 or 0418 584 795 babyoscar@bigpond.com