SEARCHLIGHT

Gudirr Gudirr
Marrugeku

Venue: Piano Bar
When: Thu 1 Mar 09:30 AM - 10:15 AM
Genre: Dance
Main Audience: All Ages
No. in touring party: 4

Gudirr Gudirr

Gudirr Gudirr will be an intimate dance, aerial and multi media work, conceived by Marrugeku’s Dalisa Pigram and Yawuru law-man Patrick Dodson, and co-choreographed and performed by Dalisa. Gudirr Gudirr will be directed and co-choreographed by Koen Augustijnen (Les Ballets C de la B, Belgium), with dramaturgy by Rachael Swain.

Gudirr Gudirr is the call of the snipe shore bird, warning that the tide is about to change. With this bird as a starting point, the piece will go on to portray five animal figures which function as omens or warnings. The owl, often seen as a portent to a death, will be explored in light of the high number of youth suicides in the Kimberley region and in families within Dalisa’s own community. Dalisa has learnt Yawuru language from Doris Edgar, one of three remaining fluent Yawuru speakers. Her work in language revival has been seen in our previous work Buru where narrations, raps and songs were performed in Yawuru and English.

Gudirr Gudirr presents an exciting collaboration with the acclaimed Belgian choreographer Koen Augustijnen. Les Ballets are renowned for the their tailored and personal processes working with artists from diverse backgrounds. This collaboration is already bringing significant national and international interest in the festival arena.

Marrugeku

The intercultural-Indigenous arm of Stalker Theatre, Marrugeku is based in Broome, North Western Australia. The company is dedicated to the critical issue of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians working together to develop new dance-theatre languages. Marrugeku is committed to supporting powerful new forms of cultural knowledge and the survival, preservation and growth of Indigenous songs, stories, dances, language and music. In 2009 Dalisa Pigram joined Rachael Swain as co-Artistic Director of Marrugeku.

Dalisa was born and raised in Broome. Her family is part of the Yawuru people of Broome and Bardi people of One Arm Point. She has performed in Jimmy Chi’s musicals Corrugation Road and the cabaret version of Bran Nue Dae. A founding member of Marrugeku, Dalisa has been a co-devising performer on all productions, touring to the Netherlands, Philippines, New Caledonia, Brazil, Ireland, Belgium, Germany, Zurich and throughout remote and urban Australia with shows Mimi, Crying Baby, Burning Daylight and Buru which she conceived and co-directed. Dalisa was co-devisor and performer in Stalker’s Incognita, co-directed by Koen Augustijnen. Dalisa is the Yawuru language teacher at Cable Beach Primary School, Broome. In 2010 she was recipient of the Australia Council’s OYEA initiative with which she is researching and developing Gudirr Gudirr.

Photo: Rod Hartvigsen