Dance delves into cultural identity

Hesitant, restless, resilient and angry — be taken from a broken past, through a fragile present and to a future still in the making.

Dalisa Pigram will bring her intimate solo dance and video work Gudirr Gudirr to Mandurah Performing Arts Centre on April 27.

The production considers the legacy of Australia’s history for Aboriginal people in North West Australia today.

Born and raised in Broome, Ms Pigram completed an advanced certificate in Aboriginal Musical Theatre after finishing Year 12 and has since accumulated a number of awards for her dance performances and choreography.

Drawing on a physicality born of Ms Pigram’s Asian–indigenous heritage, Gudirr Gudirr is an intensely personal exploration of identity.

The production is one of contemporary dance theatre Marrugeku’s most recent works and draws from the lives of people and communities living in remote areas.

The company has been based in Broome since 2003 and is currently under the artistic direction of Ms Pigram and Rachael Swain.

Ms Pigram has toured with Marrugeku to the Netherlands, Brazil, Ireland, Belgium, Germany, Canada, America and throughout Australia.

She is particularly interested in combining different forms including dance, acrobatics, traditional movements and circus skills to tell stories — creating exciting new approaches to performance.

Gudirr Gudirr calls a warning to a community facing massive industrialisation on traditional lands, loss of language and major gaps between indigenous and non-indigenous wellbeing.

It is a unique collaboration with Belgian choreographer Koen Augustijnen and visual artist Vernon Ah Kee.

The Guardian described the production as “an extraordinary work from an artist at the peak of her craft and intellectual confidence”.

Ms Pigram builds a dance language to capture a moment in time for her people.

For more information, contact 9550 3900 or visit www.manpac.com.au .