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| home | news lInterview with Stephen Page: Maintaining Culture Through DanceEdited transcript
He spoke to Fenella Kernebone about the history of Bangarra and his vision as Artistic Director of the Adelaide Festival, 2004-5. He also discusses his commitment to maintaining indigenous cultural values by evolving the visual and physical aspects of Aboriginal storytelling, through dance, music and song. Fenella Kernebone: What’s the story of Bangarra? Stephen Page: Well, there was a college that started in the early 80s … and all the dancers there learnt modern dance and they had this unique quality. Unfortunately, the majority of those graduates couldn’t get into companies like ballet companies and other modern companies - they were just too different. So they seeded a small professional, performing group and they called it Bangarra. I came along in ’91 and said, “I’ll be artistic director, let’s challenge the mainstream.” We were all committed to that philosophy and we just put all our energy into building the strength of the foundation. Fenella Kernebone: Since its beginnings in 1991, Bangarra has toured around the world. Why do you think it’s become so successful? Stephen Page: I think because I’m just too deadly. No, no, it’s just as I said before; I’ve had a strong creative team. At least 60% of the artists have been with me for 12 years. You understand that you are doing this job for a good purpose - especially for the next generation – and that is maintaining culture and using this medium. I think there’s been an honesty between the artists and myself and the creative team, and that’s what’s given it a tough goanna skin. Fenella Kernebone: Who has been in the company and then gone on to prominence elsewhere? Stephen Page: Djakapurra Munyarryun, who was the leading man in the opening ceremony of the 2000 Olympics - the huge presence that was guiding little Nicky Webster around. My brother David Page who composes the music for Bangarra. Frances Rings, who’s choreographing the first half of Walkabout, which is called Rations. So there’s strong contenders that have hung on. They’ve trusted my vision and we’ve been honest. There’s no bullshit. We just say, “This is our responsibility. We are the next generation of elders for our children.” We are all committed. Fenella Kernebone: As you’ve gained more knowledge and experience over the years has your choreography changed or mutated? Stephen Page: Mutated, I like that. I think we’ve always got millions of creative ideas in our consciousness. Some works are pure, they’re visual poetic dance. And some works are more drama dance theatre where there are social issues; stolen generation, domestic labour, welfare or any sort of social, indigenous influence that has been struggling with the western world. And usually it comes out in some of those expressions. Whether I pass the choreographic responsibility or the story-telling on to say, Frances Rings next, and she has a go at continuing the song line, I hope that in 40-thousand years time they’re all part of the one dreaming. I think it’s about adapting an old cultural way and the complexities of creative dream in stories. So the next work always inspires the other and you always want to take it to another level. And obviously we can’t escape the politics. Fenella Kernebone: As well as being a celebrated choreographer you’ve also become a spokesperson for Indigenous arts. I’m wondering how comfortable you are with that. Is this “cultural maintenance” something you have to do? Stephen Page: …When I took this job I realised that it wasn’t going to be about doing five, six, seven, eight Janet Jackson video kicks. I was taking on a responsibility to maintain a culture. I think of what my ancestors went through and if I’m going to take this responsibility then I’m going to do it for a long time and I’m going to indulge … I’m going to take myself through a contemporary initiation and reclaim, rebuild and rekindle an identity that’s inherited. It’s great that I can use this dance medium because it does give us the freedom to be quite political. I quite like the fact that we can evolve an old concept and push it through the new millennium. Djakapurra is on a cultural sabbatical, if you want to call it that. He’s a bit of a leader in his own sacred backyard so he had to leave the old urban environment and go back. But me and him used to always talk about it when we were in New York and we’re sitting there going, “Ah, brother look we’re here now, we’re getting this message to these fellows here”. I think one of the most beautiful things in the process is that we’ve built a relationship from real bush rule to urban. They know that I wasn’t brought up with all my languages, that I was taken away from my mother and father, and they know that I’m trying to rekindle all that. So for Djakapurra and his Munyarryun clan to embrace the culture of knowledge with me and share that with me … that’s been a wonderful process of trust and honesty. And Djakapurra, he might tell a little Brolga dreaming story and I’ll say, “Oh yeah, Dad told me one about the magpie bird.” And that will always inspire me to go, “Ok then, we should do a contemporary expression of what that would be”. I think in the first three or four years we were experimenting. The traditional styles of dance would be on stage and we’d just put it under great lighting and it’d have its ten minute moment. And then ten minutes later we would do a contemporary modern grounded movement dance that would compliment the essence of what that traditional dance is. And now three years later, we are able to mix them in a little bit tighter to make this wonderful … I don’t know, it’s just naturally got a spirit and a uniqueness of its own.
Fenella Kernebone: Have there been any problems in blending these styles? Stephen Page: I’ve been speared in the leg a couple of times! No, I’m only joking. For me, there’s a wonderful trust. When I did the opening ceremony, bringing a thousand indigenous people from around this country and getting the Kimberley mob meeting with the Arnhem mob and the Arnhem mob meeting with the Central Desert. They’ve never crossed their own territories for centuries, and so to bring all that mob together … they trusted me, you know? They were looking at the Olympics and hearing media reports from the cities saying “Indigenous boycott”. So I flew all the way to those places in little planes and sat down talked. I said, “Let’s do an honest Corroboree and let’s come together. Let’s do it from a black perspective and let’s show this strong spirit”. That’s been the connection Djakapurra and I have had from the early days. When he was 18, and I was 25. He was just coming down to visit his cousin and the next thing he was sitting next to me playing didgeridoo for a rehearsal of mine. It was an organic coincidental, a spirit connection. He said, “I love what you do … how you do this contemporary stuff and throw in a bit of shake a leg with a bit of modern dance.” And [back] then David was mixing the music the same way; a bit of didgeridoo and clapstick with some little token type pop songs. I’ve always gone up to Djakapurra’s homeland and sat with his mum … and the elders love it. They love it because kids in the bush think you have to be old to maintain culture. They’re into popular culture, American culture - Hip Hop and basketball and all that. And I think the elders quite love the idea that there’s an urban contemporary child from the city that has talent from all over the country and they’re about maintaining culture and they’re evolving visual, physical storytelling through the theatrical indigenous experience. I think they find that the new form of Corroboree and it’s tapping into the modern experience but it’s also maintaining integrity. So there’s mutual support. Fenella Kernebone: Is this what your piece ‘Rush’ is about? Is it exploring that energy of youth that you’ve been talking about? Stephen Page: I’ve set ‘Rush’ in an asylum, so it’s a big white space. It’s almost like we’ve gone a hundred years down the track. Ningali Lawford plays a spirit and she’s sitting in this white space and it’s for the audience to use their own imagination. Aboriginal justice is hanging on by a thread in this white powerful force. The struggle of ‘Rush’ over the next 35 minutes is that this spirit, Ningali takes the responsibility for all Aboriginal spirits and she challenges this white force. But the white force always says “Yes, but we changed your people and made them learn Christianity”. Then there’s a Christianity piece and they might say, “Yes, but we changed your diets and we changed your immune systems and we changed your values”. So there’s always this tug of war, there’s the dilemma. And then there’s the cleansing with ceremonial, cultural images. And at the end of that it’s about hope - what is the hope for the next generation? Fenella Kernebone: What is your involvement with the Adelaide Festival? Stephen Page: The Adelaide Festival is once again a timing thing. I’ve been a very fortunate man in my life. There’s been a good karma, a good spirit around me and things have come to me. When the Adelaide Festival approached me, I said I can’t leave Bangarra … so I was fortunate to hang on to Bangarra and at the same time develop my own professional development. It’s come at a good time in my career, I’m 37, getting old bastard soon. People will be sick of me soon so I thought, well, telling a story and putting together a smorgasbord of global art for a big party over two and a half weeks for the general public - I think that’d be a great challenge. And for me it’s been worldly. It’s me just being like any other director. I don’t need to say, “You’re the first indigenous director or you’re the first choreographer”. It’s just there, it’s happening. I’ll only do one festival and that’s great. I’ve done my festival; I’ve done the biggest jobs in the world, and that’s maintaining my culture, that’s running this company and sending the message out to the world. That’s putting a thousand indigenous people together on a platform stage viewed by 3 billion people. I have a respect for the Adelaide Festival but it’s not my big mother respected choice … Source:ABC Triple J's 'Artery' related links :
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7 August 2002 - Brisbane-born Stephen Page is the Artistic Director and Choreographer of the Bangarra Dance Theatre. Bangarra’s unique productions, such as their recent work ‘Walkabout’, merge the styles of traditional Aboriginal dance with Modern dance movements. Page’s status as an internationally celebrated choreographer has also enabled him to take on the role of spokesperson for Indigenous art.
