Latest news with #FrancesRings
Time Out
06-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
a stunning and powerful production... can't be missed
It's a chilly but beautiful winter's night on Cadigal land as I walk towards the Sydney Opera House. The lights of Vivid Sydney paint the harbour with mesmerising displays, creating the perfect atmosphere in the lead up to seeing Bangarra Dance Theatre 's brand new production, Illume. While Vivid lights up the exterior of the iconic Opera House, Illume sets the stage alight from the inside. An otherworldly spectacle, Illume is a collaboration between Mirning choreographer (and Bangarra's visionary artistic director) Frances Rings and Goolarrgon Bard visual artist Darrell Sibosado. Sibosado, known for his innovative contemporary light installations, lends his talents to the set and stage design in a theatrical experience that pays tribute to the creation stories of the Bard and Jawi people and the cultural hero, Galaloong. As the performance begins, audiences are immediately awestruck by a stunning display of the night sky – the dancers are enveloped by twinkling stars projected onto a sheer screen at the front of the stage and also on the back wall, with yet more lights darting around the stage providing an atmospheric glimmer. Elizabeth Gadsby 's costume design complements this, sparkly black dresses shimmer under the lights, alluding to the pristine beauty of land and sky untouched by environmental pollution. As the story progresses, and with each change in season, the costumes reflect the surroundings; shades of brown, red and beige are worn in the warmer and dry seasons. This attention to detail demonstrates a strong commitment to holistic storytelling. The symbolism woven throughout, by way of the choreography, props and stage design, transports the audience through a journey of Country and spiritualism. Vertical light blocks move up and down while the dancers navigate their bodies around them in a beautiful symbolic display of the spiritual significance of trees in Indigenous cultures. As the dancers travel across the stage, they move through a combination of dance styles, from traditional cultural dance, to contemporary dance and lyrical steps. Rings' stylistic choices expertly utilise the dancers' bodies to create beautiful patterns and shapes, and to mimic natural elements. Throughout the production we see the women dancing together as a united group, followed by the men dancing together; and while these groups remain separate in some scenes, in others they are combined. Rings' use of perspective and height is also successful in creating atmosphere and continuity of the story. As the dancers fall and roll across the stage in sync with one another, it mimics rolling water or wind. As the dancers lift each other up, creating differences in height, we can follow the story of the trees as they grow, sway and react to the elements. The music, composed by Brendon Boney, is also spectacular and, in some scenes, unexpected. While we are treated to percussive beats involving traditional instruments such as clapping sticks, there are also nods to science-fiction. As the show progresses, we start to experience more futuristic music and visuals, including some elements of hip-hop style movements accompanied by more techno-forward scores. The production's prop work also builds off the stunning light display. For example, one memorable scene involves dancers holding large illuminated ropes, twisting them and creating patterns. As a dancer myself, I want to note just how difficult that is to do – the precision required to ensure every dancer arrives at the specific spot on stage at the right moment to produce the shape is something that takes many hours of intricate planning and rehearsals. Yet, the dancers move with such ease and grace that it appears effortless. This ensemble's seamless and impressive transitions are to be highly commended. For me, the most beautiful moment of the whole show would have to be the yarning circle that occurs towards the end. A calm, quiet and seemingly 'simple' moment, this scene is able to convey deep connection with little movement. As a fire steadily burns to the right side of the stage, a group of dancers to the left are huddled together in a yarning circle, a cultural practice undertaken for close connection between mob. As the dancers sit there, under a spotlight, ash gently falls from the sky onto them. The effect is calm and serene. Overall, Illume is a stunning and powerful production. It is evident that an enormous amount of work has gone into this, and the result is a striking show that can't be missed. I highly recommend that you get out to see it.
The Guardian
06-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Bangarra: Illume review – exquisite dance show makes for an astonishing visual feast
Kinetic light and energy gloriously transmit Indigenous cultural knowledge in Bangarra Dance Theatre's latest production, Illume: a dance cycle that flows across 11 interwoven sections within an abstracted, ephemeral landscape that shimmers with light, a symbol of life. Tubular poles of neon click on and off to the dancers' rhythms, as shooting lights conjure both the cosmos and ceremonial dance wear designs. The ensemble then loops one another in bright white cables that form connected patterns suggesting their kinship. Light is portrayed as a connection between the spiritual and physical worlds but as a destructive force too; a gathering tempest of light pollution and the industrial exploitation of Country. A large guan (mother of pearl) shell descends from the ceiling, emitting a spotlight, connecting land, sea and lian/liarrn (inner being or spirit). But colonisation is coming: the performers begin to dance frenetically while seated on boxes, as if in a European missionaries' classroom denuded of Indigenous cultural systems. Now in its 36th year, the Sydney-based troupe has chalked up two firsts with this new show, which was choreographed by artistic director Frances Rings. This is their first collaboration with a visual artist, Goolarrgon Bard pearl carver Darrell Sibosado, from Lombadina on the Dampier Peninsula in Western Australia (although Bangarra's former head of design Jacob Nash, who left the company in 2023 after 12 years, remains highly regarded for his artistry too). And second, this is Bangarra's first season in the Sydney Opera House's 1,500-seat Joan Sutherland theatre, after a two-decade tenure in the more intimate, 577-seat Drama theatre. The company has performed in the Joan Sutherland before, but as part of an Australian Ballet collaboration in 2012. With Illume, Bangarra makes the most of the substantially larger theatre, the expanded space maximising the show's astonishing visual images – a whirlpool of fish, a fire ceremony and euphoric flashes of swirling, sandy reds that suggest the jagged pindan cliffs of Sibosado's Kimberley home. This visual artistry envelops the achingly exquisite shapes made by the Bangarra dancers, who become part of Sibosado's pattern. By chance last week, at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra, I happened across Sibosado's arresting wall-length electrical work Ngarrgidj Morr (the proper path to follow), the same name he has given a section in Illume about the interconnectedness of all living things. The NGA work, a triptych of men's ceremonial dance plates rendered in powder-coated steel with LED tubes, echoes the designs seen in the Bangarra work; both allow us to see the strength of cultural lore and the enduring legacy of spirit in ways ancient and optimistically futuristic. At times, I craved an obvious delineation of Illume's 11 sections but quickly realised flagging each chapter would have broken the spell; they segue seamlessly into one another. In the end, I could not believe the show's 70-minute (no interval) run time had passed so quickly. Rings, who took over as Bangarra's artistic director in 2023, is showing an admirable ambition for the company with this collaboration; kudos are also due to set designer Charles Davis, lighting designer Damien Cooper, costume designer Elizabeth Gadsby and composer Brendon Boney. Long may Bangarra begin its annual tour in this way, on the epic stage and auditorium it deserves. Bangarra's Illume is at the Sydney Opera House until 14 June, Perth's Heath Ledger theatre 10-13 July, Albany Entertainment Centre 18 July, Canberra Theatre Centre 25-26 July, Queensland Performing Arts Centre 31 July-9 August, Darwin Entertainment Centre 15-16 August, and Arts Centre Melbourne 3-13 September
ABC News
31-05-2025
- Entertainment
- ABC News
Illume: Bangarra's dazzling fusion of light, art, and motion
Darrell Sibosado is a contemporary artist from the West Kimberley, who carries forward a rich family legacy through his striking printmaking and large-scale metal and light installations. Darrell and Bangarra Dance Theatre's artistic director Frances Rings share a deep creative kinship rooted in precision, line, and innovation. Together, they are now bridging visual and performative arts — Darrell's structured forms meet Frances's fluid choreography, blending technical rigour with unexpected softness. Their collaboration in Illume is a striking fusion that celebrates cultural knowledge while offering a thoughtful warning. For more information on Illume, click here
ABC News
31-05-2025
- Entertainment
- ABC News
Bangarra Dance Theatre's Illume honours 'Ngarrgidj Morr'
For the Bardi and Jawi people, 'Ngarrgidj Morr (the proper path to follow) is a way of living that ensures symbiotic harmony. It's a principle that guides the work of contemporary artist and Goolarrgon Bard man Darrell Sibosado, and certainly applies to his forthcoming collaboration with Bangarra Dance Theatre's artistic director Frances Rings. Together they're bringing Darrell's artwork to life in another visual form — dance. With Bangarra Dance Theatre set to premier its latest masterpiece Illume, Darrell and Frances discuss how they're creating a dance vocabulary that speaks to the very essence of light and life in the west Kimberley region. Plus for Word Up, Brooke Wandin shares the Woiwurrung word for 'basket'. You can find more information about Bangarra Dance Theatre's new production Illume here.
