Bangarra Dance Theatre - The Light Inside

Civic Theatre Newcastle Presents Bangarra Dance Theatre

Come explore the cultural forces that bind us together, across oceans and eons. 

Some call it a feeling, some call it the mother spirit. It’s the place where sea meets sky, the horizon we all look to, the compass that guides us home.   

In Bangarra’s first mainstage cross-cultural collaboration, leading Māori choreographer and Arts Laureate Moss Te Ururangi Patterson joins beloved Bangarra alumna Deborah Brown. Together they guide Bangarra’s award-winning ensemble in stories that honour their mother countries and the spirit that calls them home.  

Brown is a proud descendent of the Wakaid Clan and Meriam people in the Torres Strait, and has heritage from far across the seas in Scotland. She carries strength and resilience from her ancestors. Patterson, born near Lake Taupō, is a proud mokopuna (grandson) of the Ngāti Tūwharetoa tribe, and describes his sense of home as something alive, a fire inside, that he carries like a beating heart.  

Experience the resilience of the First Peoples of the Oceania region, that extends across the continent now known as Australia, the Torres Strait Islands and Aotearoa, our southern neighbour.  

Deborah Brown and Moss Te Ururangi Patterson with Bangarra Dance Theatre Dancers Choreography

Steve Francis and Brendon Boney Composition

Elizabeth Gadsby Set Design

Jennifer Irwin Costume Design

Karen Norris Lighting Design

Shana O’Brien Associate Set Designer

Running time 1hr, no interval. Running times are approximate and subject to change without notice.

Please note that this production contains elevated sound levels, flashing lights, haze, smoke effects and voices of Tangata whenua, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who have passed.

Photography by Daniel Boud.