QPAC

Memory. Presence. Possibility.  

After receiving the prestigious Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in Dance earlier this year from the dance division of the Venice Biennale, Australia’s leading First Nations performing arts company, Bangarra Dance Theatre, moves into 2027 with a program of two brand-new powerful works on an epic national tour.  

Grounded in wisdom of the past, and charged by voices of the future, GENERATIONS is a bold new double bill curated by Mirning woman Frances Rings, Bangarra’s Artistic Director and co-CEO. The new work brings together First Nations cultural leaders with acclaimed contemporary artists in a unique dance theatre experience. QPAC is proud to present this extraordinary work, championing our First Nations artists, storytellers and creators and helping share these stories with audiences across Queensland.  

Renowned Yolŋu songman and artist of the Wangurri clan Douglas Djakapurra Munyarryun, a much-loved Bangarra dance artist and cultural consultant across many productions and known for his performances at the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, joins Kullilli man and longstanding Bangarra company member Rikki Mason to create Sever · Rom Bukthunami, a powerful exploration of fractured belonging. Where do you belong when you live between worlds? How does culture take root in urban landscapes? How can young people reconcile ancestral knowledge with emerging technologies? Through Munyarryun’s songline, Sever · Rom Bukthunami explores these urgent questions, tracing the tensions between cultural inheritance, identity and the search for connection.  

Pipalyatjara Elder Josephine Mick is a respected healer, artist, irrepressible songwoman and champion of the tjakura (Great Desert Skink). Like all women of the Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands, she carries a profound responsibility for Culture, Country, Community and Family. Working with acclaimed choreographer and former Bangarra dancer Jasmin Sheppard, and Josephine’s daughter Sally Scales as cultural consultant, SpearHead · Kunpu Kanyini celebrates the strength, leadership and enduring power of Central Desert women. It is a dynamic ceremony of song and dance, set against an ancient desert landscape brimming with life, and a deep commitment to caring for Country.  

GENERATIONS serves as a powerful reminder that the future isn’t a distant destination, but already unfolding within us. Awakened by the voices of the future, ancestral knowledge shapes a vision for what lies ahead: alive, evolving and ready to be danced into being.  

Frances Rings, Artistic Director and Co-CEO of Bangarra says, “It has long been a dream to bring together a Cultural Leader and a Bangarra artist to create a meeting place where knowledge, artistry and spirit can move as one. GENERATIONS is that dream taking form. This program honours the preservation of knowledge while looking boldly toward those who will carry it forward. It speaks to the way memory can travel through bodies, creativity can bridge generations, and the impact of collaboration unifying many voices into one enduring message of survival. I am deeply proud to support Rikki Mason as he creates alongside Bangarra’s own living legend, Douglas Djakapurra Munyarryun. Jasmin Sheppard’s choreographic voice has always held a powerful resonance for me, and I am beyond excited to see her work with APY leader and matriarch, Josephine Mick.”  

Douglas Djakapurra Munyarryun says, “I’m a proud Yolŋu man from the Wangurri clan in North East Arnhem Land, connected to Dhalinybuy. My cultural knowledge has been shaped by generations of family and Elders who taught me song, dance and the responsibilities I now carry as a Songman. I see myself as a role model for young people, especially the kids, because they’re the ones, they’re the future. I want to pass on the song, dance and cultural knowledge that my parents, brothers, sisters and Elders taught me and teach young people to listen to the old people and follow in their footsteps. Our knowledge has many layers, and even now, I’m still learning.”  

Josephine Mick says, "I am a Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara woman from Pipalyatjara Community, Aralya Country in the APY Lands. Our manta (land) holds the stories and songs of our Tjukurpa, and I carry that knowledge and responsibility with me. As a senior Anangu ngangkari, leader and song woman, I have a responsibility to pass our songs, ceremonies and cultural knowledge on to our children and grandchildren. Our old people kept our culture strong for us. Now it is our responsibility to keep it alive for the generations still to come. One day we will be gone, but I want our songs, stories and culture to live on through our young people.”  

GENERATIONS will be shown in QPAC’s Glasshouse Theatre on 1 – 10 July 2027 as part of Bangarra’s national tour. For more information on purchasing tickets, visit QPAC.com.au.