Gudirr Gudirr

Marrugeku

Australia/Belgium

A truly timely work that should be seen widely.

– Real Time Arts
[T]he intensity of anxiety about the future of indigenous people, the younger generation in particular, is eloquently expressed in dance.

– Sydney Morning Herald
Connection to land, respect of ancestors and acknowledgement of history sits at the heart of Gudirr Gudirr.

– ABC Arts
Gudirr Gudirr is at its heart both a threnody for a genocide and a stirring affirmation of black survival.

– The Guardian
It’s painful, vicious and raw. Funny, absurd and reflexive. A blistering, furious torrent of humanity.

– Australian Stage

About the Performance

In Broome, Western Australia, where Asian, Australian-Indigenous and Western-settler cultures collide, a remarkable new intercultural expression is emerging – and Marrugeku is at the forefront of this emergence. The dance theatre company documents and shares the memories and experiences of indigenous culture through visually spectacular performances that imagine remote communities and international art festivals to be their simultaneous context.

In this intimate performance, Marrugeku’s Dalisa Pigram, in collaboration with former Les Ballets C de la B choreographer Koen Augustijnen and visual artist Vernon Ah Kee, has threaded the physicality of contemporary dance through her vision of the rapid change affecting her land and its people as well as her own Asian-Indigenous identity. Her resilience and intelligence produce a performance language that articulates the essence of the precarious global moment.

About Marrugeku

Marrugeku creates innovative intercultural dance theatre from the northwest Australian experience, where desert meets sea, Australia meets Asia, and where cultures twine, fuse and morph. The company is currently under the artistic direction of Dalisa Pigram and Rachael Swain.

Since 2003 Marrugeku has created its contemporary productions in the land of the Yawuru people of Broome, WA. Drawing from the lives of people and communities living in remote north west Australia, Marrugeku shares the memories and traditions of Indigenous culture and experience through contemporary dance-theatre. The company utilises contemporary dance, traditional and contemporary music, circus, installation and video art to create its visually spectacular productions. Works are presented in a variety of alternative locations from remote Indigenous communities to international arts festivals in Australia and around the world.

marrugeku.com.au

A message from the Artistic Director

Extras

Gudirr Gudirr – Pre-show Tea

Wednesday, May 6, 2015 – 7pm

Join us for a series of Pre-show Teas with our Harbourfront Centre Scholars-in-Residence. Admission is free with the purchase of a ticket to the opening performance of Gudirr Gudirr.

Gudirr, Gudirr is about a complicated legacy: the effects of Australian history on aboriginal communities. Though we may be geographically distanced from Australia, we share a complex history of violence, expansion, and their influence on aboriginal peoples. Join us for a preshow chat that will illuminate the historical context for the performance and its connections to Canada. How does Toronto’s “multicultural” identity connect to Canadian aboriginal history?

Gudirr Gudirr – Talkshow

Thursday, May 7, 2015 – After the show

The second performance of each World Stage production is followed by our talkshow event, where the artists connect with the audience outside their work, fielding questions with the moderation of their colleagues in the community. Admission is free with the purchase of a ticket to Gudirr Gudirr.