Bangarra brothers: songman, storyteller, dancer

Three pivotal figures in the development and success of the Bangarra Dance Theatre – David, Stephen, and Russell Page – are brothers who shared a collective artistic vision.

David, Stephen, Russell – composer, director, dancer – are descendants of the Nunukul people and Munaldjali clan of the Yugambeh Nation, and founding members of the Bangarra Dance Theatre. The Page brothers came from a large family – one that invited their community home on weekends, to play music, eat, tell stories and jokes, perform, celebrate.  The brothers’ careers aligned through Bangarra, where connections are created between the traditional and the urban within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, and the trio intuitively and collectively embraced this fusion. David and Russell have now passed, while Stephen, who was appointed Bangarra’s artistic director in 1991, continues to steer the theatre: ‘When I look at the foundation the three brothers come from – a big family and a clan, and we move as a mob – that philosophy is lingering through the company’. Photographers Penny Tweedie and Robert Rosen have captured not only the creative force of the brothers, but also their intimate, instinctive connection.