Smoke in an ochre light is rising from Maiwar, and a chant is beginning.
Figures move through the billowing clouds, dwarfed by striking white bones, standing behind them like ghost gums after a fire, stripped of life.
They are the bones of the Yallingbillar – big whale.
Stephen Page (formerly of Bangarra Dance Theatre) has drawn on the yarns of his Nunukul/Nughi mother to tell the story of our connection to earth, to life and to death, in Baleen Moondjan, co-written with Alana Valentine.
Combining English and Jandai language, contemporary music and dance with the ceremonies of our First Nations people, the performers tell the story of the whale totem to a new generation.
The location of Jacob Nash’s breathtaking set, the ancient ritual lodged on the Brisbane river, right in the middle of Brisbane city lights, is a stark reminder of how this land has transformed.
Look up from the dancers, enacting a scene that has replayed over millions of years, through the giant skeleton, and you see the glowing lights of Southbank’s hotels; turn behind to see the towering structure of the casino.
And yet, the sight of the bones, floating on the river, is riveting, and the dancers and music entrancing.
Despite the symbols of death that arise through the story, companion to death is life, and the promise of a sacred cycle that will continue into the future.
