Canberra Reviews

Sheltering is an ambitious triple bill from Bangarra that moves through memory, Country, adaptation and renewal. As always with Bangarra, the level of craft on stage is extraordinary. Even when individual works did not fully land for me dramaturgically, there is no denying the precision, intelligence and care of the artists creating them.

Visually, the evening is often breathtaking.

Fabric becomes landscape and skin. Bodies gather, climb, emerge and disappear. The costume design throughout is exquisite – earthy, textural, shifting between vulnerability and symbolism without ever feeling decorative. Karen Norris’ lighting design deserves special mention. Light here does not simply illuminate; it sculpts, reveals and transforms. There were moments where image and atmosphere communicated more powerfully than narrative.

And perhaps that was where I struggled.

As a non–First Nations reviewer, I want to acknowledge that not all work is made for me to fully decode, and I approach this response with humility. My response here is not to cultural meaning, but to my experience of receiving the work in performance.

As a lover of dance and physical theatre, I rarely require a literal narrative or clear story. Some of the most affecting performance experiences I have had resist explanation entirely. But I do believe that when performers are anchored in a clear proposition, image, relationship or internal logic, audiences feel that – physiologically. Even if we cannot articulate it. It gives us something to orient toward in the body.

Throughout Sheoak and Keeping Grounded, I found myself searching for that anchor. Beautiful images and compelling moments emerged, yet I struggled to locate a throughline that accumulated and carried me forward. At times the visual language felt stronger than the dramaturgical one.

Unexpectedly, the work that affected me most was Brown Boys.

At only six minutes and presented on film, it offered the clearest emotional and thematic proposition of the evening. It felt immediate, specific and alive. I found myself wishing to see this work translated into live performance – to feel those bodies sharing space with us rather than mediated through screen. That longing perhaps speaks to the strength of the work itself.

Sheltering may not be my favourite Bangarra season, but even a Bangarra work that leaves me questioning remains richer, more considered and more visually accomplished than much of what reaches our stages.