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

MEDIA MEDIA RELEASE 16th Feb 2006

For photos, footage and interviews please contact:
Clare McGregor, Bangarra Dance Theatre.
Phone: 02 9258 5103 Email: clare@bangarra.com.au

Bangarra embarks on its biggest ever tour of Australia

Starting May this year, Bangarra Dance Theatre will embark on its most extensive tour of regional Australia in the company's history. Spanning 12 weeks (May 24 - Aug 10, 2006) and 14 venues, the tour will see the company perform in every state and territory except SA, including a long awaited visit to WA (Geraldton).

The company will be touring the work "Clan" which is a spectacular double bill featuring two works (Unaipon and Rations) crafted by award-winning choreographer Frances Rings. This tour will be the first time these two stunning works have been performed together.

Unaipon (pronounced You-nigh-pon) is inspired by the extraordinary passion and genius of Aboriginal inventor, writer and philosopher David Unaipon who is featured on our $50 note. Described as 'Australia's Leonardo Da Vinci', Unaipon (1872-1967) is credited with being the first Aboriginal writer to be published and with developing modern shearing shears. As a passionate scholar of theology and philosophy, Unaipon argued that Aboriginal traditions should be considered equal to those of all the great cultures of the world. Rings' work Unaipon was first performed at the 2004 Adelaide Bank Festival of the Arts and went on to win a 2004 Australian Dance Award for Outstanding Achievement in Choreography.
"People like Unaipon have always fascinated me -they straddled Aboriginal and white culture, they lived in two worlds. They were brave enough to walk in a land that had no track and they made a track for us to follow. This is our history, a history shared by all Australians." says choreographer Frances Rings.

Rations explores mission life in colonial Australia and a remarkable history of struggle and survival. Lured from their homelands and fed an alien diet of flour and sugar, Aboriginal people found themselves trapped in a cycle of dependency. Rations, Frances Rings' stunning choreographic debut for Bangarra, was first performed in 2002 as part of Bangarra's production Walkabout and went on to win two coveted Helpmann awards for Best New Australian Work and Score.

Adelaide-born Frances Rings is a descendant of the Kokatha Tribe and is also of German descent. She first joined Bangarra in 1993 after graduating from NAISDA Dance College and has been an integral part of Bangarra's growth into Australia's premier Indigenous performing arts company.

"We are all very proud of this double bill, and know that audiences around Australia will be blown away by the power of these two pieces. Once again Arts on Tour have co-ordinated a fantastic schedule and we are extremely grateful to them and to Playing Australia without which tours of this magnitude would not be possible." says Sandy Collins Business and Touring Manager.

CLAN, Bangarra Dance Theatre. Choreography Frances Rings; Music David Page (Unaipon), Steve Francis (Rations); Set Design Peter England; Lighting Design Nick Schlieper, Trudy Dalgleish; Costumes Jennifer Irwin. Clan will be performed by Bangarra's full ensemble of 12 dancers.

Bangarra Dance Theatre
Clan Regional Australia Tour 2006

*Bangarra's show "Spirit" will be performed in Hobart and Ballarat
Full list of venues also displayed on Bangarra's website at www.bangarra.com.au

For photos, footage and interviews please contact:
Clare McGregor, Bangarra Dance Theatre.
Phone: 02 9258 5103 Email: clare@bangarra.com.au

More info on Bangarra Dance Theatre can be found at www.bangarra.com.au as well as individual biographies on the Biographies page.