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Leigh Warren's 'Petroglyphs'.
 Leigh Warren's new production 'Petroglyphs' is a collaboration between his acclaimed dance company, the Indigenous choreographer Gina Rings and Tandanya, Adelaide's
National Aboriginal Cultural Institute. The work is described by Warren as "a dance work in promenade amidst an art exhibition" that "explores elements of landscape and language".
The work will literally move through Tandanya as it investigates and explores ideas expressed in artworks that have been specifically commissioned for the production to comment upon the language of signs and symbols.
According to Warren, the idea for the production initially came from co-choreographer Gina Rings. "It was her idea and originally we were going to call it 'Hindsight', linking Indigenous culture with contemporary Australia. We've been planning the project for about five years. Babies have been born during its gestation. Literally!" he laughs. "But it's been a very interesting process and maybe it needed all of this time for it to come out right. It's taken this amount of time to pull the concept together and to gain consensus and that's the point of the thing - finding points of connection between traditional Aboriginal culture and contemporary life. You know I think that the notion of reconciliation, and that's a part of this, has been frustrating for many people. I think it's fantastic that so many people got off their butts and walked across those bridges and by doing so, demonstrated their support for Indigenous Australia. Things are beginning to happen now and I think that it's important that we do this".
Gina Rings is a true polymath - former dancer with Bangarra, choreographer, spokesperson for her people and student of anthropology. Petroglyphs are the oldest form of visual communication and they have a rich and important history within Indigenous culture and it was while studying anthropology that Rings discovered just how central they are to this culture. Following on from this, a series of contemporary artists was approached to create symbols that are relevant to contemporary life. "We all had these symbols and we also looked at contemporary symbols like road signs which have shape and form of course, so they translated straight to the body. So it's about taking the artists off the wall into the space and onto the body. For example, Mark Blackman's work has a lot to do with numbers and equations [but in a very different way to which Warren used them in a acclaimed production of 'Einstein On The Beach']. We've worked in creating a series of writing numbers into space and measuring distances, so it's taking the idea of the work onto the body. It's very abstract but it's how we've generated the dancer's movements. Another of the artists [Joel Birnie] changes a sand painting during the work so that it becomes like a mandala of sorts."
The production features not only Leigh Warren's troupe, but also a mixture of dancers, both Indigenous and those schooled in western technique, as well as Indigenous singers Inawyntji Williamson and Mrs Brown. The score is by the respected composer Brett Dean, whose vision of the landscape not only encompasses but suggests those of Sculthorpe and Messiaen. According to Warren these are world sounds. "Bird song, you know, you can relate to it and say 'This is an Australian bird' and all can hear it and relate to it. Similarly, there are sounds within the score that sound like the didgeridoo - such an ancient sound that seems to emanate from the earth itself. It's really quite strange though it all works really well. Dean has also written a kind of Gregorian section and Gina has added a text to that."
Warren emphasises that 'Petroglyphs' is a joint production - one that could not have been achieved without Tandanya. This is interactive art with the audience placed firmly as part of the experience. "It's not art in stasis or even art evolving in front of you. You're a part of it and that's what we wanted to achieve. I think it's going to be a really wonderful surprise for people. Even the placing of the chairs within the performing space is done in consultation with the artists. So the audience, by sitting in a semi-circle, will become a part of the production."
Brett Allen-Bayes
 | 'Petroglyphs - Signs Of Life' runs from Tue 8 to Sat 17 September at Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute.
Pictured: Gina Rings & Leigh Warren
Photographer: Alex Makeyev |
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