In 1999, a young dancer named Frances Rings made her first tentative steps into the world of choreography, creating her first ever work Minymaku Inma to be performed by her fellow dancers from Bangarra Dance Theatre and eight women from the APY Lands in South Australia. Her work debuted as part of an experimental choreographic program called Dance Clan. It proved a pivotal moment for Rings, the beginning of what would become a long and successful career as an independent choreographer.

Today, as the artistic director of Bangarra, she’s well aware what an important opportunity Dance Clan was, giving her the confidence, professional mentorship and support to pursue the move into choreography.

“It shifted everything for me,” Rings tells Broadsheet. “I was really obsessed with the female form, how we move and describe ourselves through mannerisms, particularly Indigenous women, a very subtle but powerful way of moving. [Dance Clan] gave me the opportunity to work with the Bangarra women in honing that, making it my signature. It was the moment I made a conscious choice towards choreography as my next career transition.”

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Founded in 1998 by Bangarra’s then-artistic director Stephen Page, Dance Clan is an annual season of new dance works that provides an opportunity for emerging First Nations choreographers to test their choreographic skills on world-class dancers. Performed at Bangarra’s headquarters in Walsh Bay, Dance Clan has provided an opening for countless dancers-turned-choreographers.

Bangarra alumni who’ve gone on to have successful choreography careers include Deborah Brown, who collaborated with acclaimed Māori choreographer Moss Te Ururangi Patterson on The Light Inside; Tara Gower, who will debut a new work with West Australian Ballet in 2025; Jasmin Sheppard, who’s mentoring this year’s Dance Clan dancer-choreographer Lillian Banks; and Sani Townson, whose 2023 production Kulka was reworked for the Bangarra mainstage this year.

After a long hiatus brought on by the company’s move to Barangaroo, and further delays due to Covid, Rings brought Dance Clan back last year, determined to revive this unique opportunity for emerging First Nations choreographers and creatives.

“You realise it becomes a drought because when people don’t get that opportunity or see emerging choreographers coming through, it affects programming and the diversity of creatives out there.”

Bangarra has long had opportunities to nurture other creatives, too. The Russell Page Graduate Scholarship supports early career dancers, while the David Page Music Fellowship provides mentorship for Indigenous composers supported by Bangarra composer-producer Steve Francis and former David Page fellow Brendon Boney.

This year, Dance Clan presents two new works and a short dance film. Lillian Banks joined Bangarra in 2018 as part of the Russell Page program and has created Yawuru Buru, acknowledging the importance of her connection to her home in Broome, Western Australia, featuring her mother’s textiles in the costumes.

“Lillian is a proud Yawuru woman of few words – she will own that – and we know how powerful she is on stage, but holding the room and being able to communicate to your dancers what your vision is for the work is hard. It’s your peers you’re talking to,” Rings says. “We feel she’s growing right before our eyes.”

Kallum Goolagong, a proud Wiradjuri and Darkinjung man who joined Bangarra in 2019 through the graduate program, presents Metamorphosis, a personal story of his own growth as a young man. “It’s about facing all those demons you have that are stopping you from making that next leap in your life, finding your way and embracing and trusting that,” says Rings.

Gamilaroi-Tongan man Daniel Mateo who joined Bangarra in 2021 via the graduate program, balances his dance career with a side hustle in slam poetry. He’s choreographed and stars in Brown Boys, co-directed by Sydney Dance alumnus Cass Mortimer Eipper. “A sublime dance film that brings to life the words on paper, his own personal truth-telling,” says Rings.

Former David Page fellow Leon Rogers has scored Brown Boys, while Amelia Thompson and James Howard (also former fellows) have composed the scores. Architect Annaliese McCarthy and fashion designer Lillardia Briggs-Houston are doing the sets and costumes, mentored by designer Elizabeth Gadsby.

“We see a shift in them, a maturity,” says Rings. “Dance Clan challenges them but we’re there to catch them. It can be intimidating but we hope they embrace it. They trust us, they trust their team, and it’s really paying off. You’re investing in the next generation but they’re doing it their own way, using their own style, their own language, their own creativity.”

Dance Clan runs from November 29 to December 14 at The Studio Theatre at Bangarra, Walsh Bay.

bangarra.com.au