Perfectly timed for NAIDOC Week, Bangarra Dance Theatre are visiting the west coast to present their acclaimed production Illume, and it did not disappoint.
Choreographed by Artistic Director Frances Rings alongside the members of the company, and paired with an engaging and diverse soundtrack composed by Brendon Boney, this was a stunning blend of contemporary dance and Indigenous culture. But more than that, it’s a briliant balance of the many elements of stagecraft.
The work also represents a collaboration with Goolarrgon Bard artist Darrell Sibosado. It’s the first time the company has collaborated with a visual artist in their 36 year history. Exploring the storytelling of the Bard and Jawi people of the Kimberly region, and the importance of light in their culture.
The work includes impressive lights, sets, projections and animations to make the depiction of light in its many different forms central to the presentation, carefully balancing and melding this element so it doesn’t distract or take away from the dance. A triumph for Set Designer Charles Davis, Lighting Designer Damien Cooper, and Video Designer Craig Wilkinson.
The audience are taken on a journey through eleven sections, it’s a fast paced work, but with sufficient ebb and flow that we have moments to catch our breath, meditate on the emerging themes and devise our own interpretation of the message behind the work.
Also filling the work is a series of beautiful costumes from designer Elizabeth Gadsby, assisted by emerging the company’s Emerging Costume Designer Rika Hamaguchi. There were many costume changes, unusual for a contemporary dance work, but they added to the journey we were on.
At the centre of this carefully balanced display of artistry was dance. A troupe of dancers in union but still individual, working their way through choreography that focused on movement and flow over technical trickery, effectively taking the audience on a ride that sparks an opportunity to ponder and reflect on our connection to the environment around us, and our place within it.
Illume is playing at the Health Ledger Theatre at the State Theatre Centre until 13th July before heading to the Albany Entertainment Centre on 18th July. Further seasons are scheduled for Canberra, Queensland, Victoria and the Northern Territory.
