Infinity

Vivienne Wong on Warumuk (photos by Jeff Busby)

By Elissa Blake

“When a Bangarra dancer moves their arm, it’s not just an arm movement, it comes from their soul,” says Australian Ballet dancer Vivienne Wong. “They are so grounded. Each movement has a meaning. Everything is a story.”

This is just one of the challenges faced by the women of the Australian Ballet, who are taking off their pointe shoes for Stephen Page’s Warumuk - in the dark night. The work is the third collaboration between the Australian Ballet and the indigenous company Bangarra Dance Theatre, and it’s full of “female energy”.

“The ballet dancers have been so hungry to learn the movements,” says Page, artistic director of Bangarra. “It’s such a joy to see them rip off their shoes, let their hair down and do a forward roll with a flexed foot. They look up with this huge smile and say ‘did I really just do that?’ ”

To date, Page has created five works for The Australian Ballet, including Rites, set to Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, and Amalgamate, a fusion of classical ballet and indigenous dance. But this is the first time the two companies have come together to tell an indigenous narrative. Warumuk is made from a collection of traditional tales tracing the movements of stars and planets in the night sky from dusk until dawn.

Wong, a soloist with the Australian Ballet, plays the evening star, while Deborah Brown, one of Bangarra’s leading artists, plays the morning star. “The evening star has a raw energy to it, like something is building up,” Wong says. “The music is incredibly emotive and beautiful and the movement feels very special to dance.”

Bangarra’s composer David Page (Stephen’s brother) has created a cinematic orchestral score interwoven with Dhuwa and Yirritja songs and stories from North East Arnhem Land.

“It looks and sounds more like a Bangarra show this time,” [Stephen] Page says. “It’s like the ballet has come to Bangarra’s world and the dancers are observing and sharing with each other. We want to kidnap Vivienne and bring her to Bangarra for good. She is such a pleasure to work with.”

Warumuk is part of the Australian Ballet’s triple bill Infinity, programmed alongside new works by choreographers Gideon Obarzanek and Graeme Murphy. All three were commissioned for The Australian Ballet’s 50^th anniversary celebrations this year.

Wong says it’s been liberating to dance in bare feet. But her thighs are aching. “Almost all of the dance is performed in plié [bent at the knee] so my quads have been so sore! There’s one part where we walk through the bush and it’s been quite a challenge getting the stamping right,” she says.

Bangarra’s Leonard Mickelo says he’s loved teaching the ballet dancers how to paint their bodies in a ceremonial way. “We normally use ochres but for this one, being the night sky, we’re using silver and gold paint. The ballet dancers are loving it,” he says. “Even though our dance styles are different, our spirits are the same. We are all artists. We all share a passion for movement.”

Infinity plays at the Sydney Opera House from April 5-25, 2012.

This story was first published in the Sydney Morning Herald on March 18.