Bangarra

As one of Australia’s leading performing arts companies, Bangarra Dance Theatre share their Culture with Communities and audiences across Australia and the world. Started in 1989, their dance technique is forged from over 65,000 years of culture, embodied with contemporary movement.

Each year in June and July, Bangarra premieres a new work in Australia’s most iconic venue, the Sydney Opera House.

Bangarra’s mission is to create inspiring Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander experiences that promote awareness and understanding of our cultures.

Company Profile

We are Bangarra Dance Theatre. We are a company of professional Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander performers. We are storytellers. We are fire makers.

As one of Australia’s leading performing arts companies, we share our culture with Communities and audiences across Australia and the world.

We are contemporary dancers, drawing on 65,000 years of culture.

We create powerful works of theatre with dance, music, poetry and design.

We tell the stories of our Elders, create works on Country and return the works we create to the place they were made.

Each of our dancers is a professionally trained, dynamic artist with a proud Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander background. Together, they represent the best of Australian talent.

We have been making our indelible marks on the Australian theatre landscape for 32 years. We were born in 1989 from the energy of NAISDA (National Aboriginal Islander Skills Development Association) founder Carole Y. Johnson, along with NAISDA graduates, and Rob Bryant and Cheryl Stone.

Today, Artistic Director Stephen Page, Executive Director Lissa Twomey and Associate Director Frances Rings lead the company in our mission to promote awareness and understanding of our cultures.

Every year, we tour a world premiere work across the nation and embark on an international tour. We are at home performing on Country, in tiny venues in regional centres and on Australia’s most iconic stages. We run education workshops, programs and special projects to nurture the next generation of storytellers.

We are for the hundreds of First Nations Communities across Australia — and for anyone who wants to be a part of our story.