There is a line in our Acknowledgement of Country: to recognise Indigenous Elders past, present and emerging. This interweaving of time, with the lived, reciprocal relationship with Country it implies, finds a visual manifestation in Bangarra Dance Theatre’s Sheltering.
The triple bill moves through identity, ancestral land and belonging with a force that is at once historical and urgently contemporary.
Keeping Grounded, created in 2023 and here reimagined by choreographer Glory Tuohy-Daniell, opens with a country-dirt coloured netting that trembles with life.
The cast emerges in one of the few moments of strict synchronisation by enacting a collective belonging that precedes the individual: rooted in Country before the performance began and bound to return to it long after.
The performance’s message is strong, and the emotional weight lingers throughout; however, the work’s pacing occasionally stalls. The repetition in choreography and compositional pacing occasionally plateaus, dulling the emotional accumulation the work is otherwise capable of sustaining.
Cass Mortimer Eipper and Daniel Mateo’s short film and composition, Brown Boys, is grounded in great lyrical strength and eloquence.
Daniel Mateo’s performance is impactful, but the purpose of the choice of a visual composition in a short film remains unclear. It was difficult to discern the purpose of this spoken-word performance or why it was done in the format of a film.
Greater impact and flow between dance performances would have been enhanced if the audience had received a live performance of Mateo’s act as a more seamless bridge between Keeping Grounded and Sheoak.
The final performance is David Page’s Sheoak under the artistic direction of Frances Rings. This performance is the strongest work of the evening.
Where Keeping Grounded lagged at times, Sheoak moves with fluency. Each narrative and idea seamlessly moves into the next through the cast’s excellent choreographic confidence.
Page’s composition does much of the connective work in a score that holds traditional and contemporary musical languages in genuine dialogue, pulling the audience further into the work’s emotional current without ever announcing the effort.
A special mention must be given to Jacob Nash’s set design, which achieves that rarest of scenic effects: presence without imposition. Nash’s minimal elements ensure the design never competes with the choreography but instead works quietly in service of it.
Each choice from the branches to the glowing blanket amplifies the emotional and narrative weight of the work rather than adorning it.
Sheltering is an imperfect but moving evening. In Sheoak, it reaches something genuinely authentic: grief, resilience and belonging held in the same breath. Bangarra has always understood that to dance Country is to keep it alive, and that conviction never wavers.
For lovers of dance, culture and legacy, this performance will leave you feeling the weight of what it means to belong to a place and to carry it with you.
Sheltering is presented by Bangarra Dance Theatre and runs to 13 June at the Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House before going on tour. Full dates below.
Tickets: https://my.bangarra.com.au/events
Website: https://www.bangarra.com.au/productions/sheltering/
Socials: https://www.instagram.com/bangarradancetheatre/
Hero image: Keeping Grounded, photo by Daniel Boud
Sydney Gadigal Country 4 – 14 June, Sydney Opera House
Melbourne Wurundjeri Country 18 – 27 June, Arts Centre Melbourne
Brisbane Meanjin 9 – 18 July, Queensland Performing Arts Centre
