Rosemary Sorensen; 30/10/09
An Aboriginal musical does not have to sound like Bran Nue Dae, and Aboriginal dancing can be something entirely different from Bangarra. That’s the message, loud, clear and defiant, behind Burning Daylight, a million-dollar investment by a host of backers, including the West Australian and federal governments, and the consortium of presenters known as Mobile States.For Rachael Swain and Dalisa Pigram, the co-artistic directors of Broome-based company, Marrugeku, this dance theatre production provides a model for the next generation of indigenous theatre. “I think we’re on to something new, something others can use as a template, but we’ve only just come to that realisation ourselves,” Pigram says. The process has been slow, almost five years of planning and development, with the first seed production, a collaboration with Marguerite Pepper, performed in project form in Broome and Zurich. (The Zurich audience didn’t understand a great deal but got the feeling and responded warmly, Swain says.)
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,26277737-16947,00.html
Tags: Aboriginal, Australia, Dance