Stephen Page

Stephen George Page is an Aboriginal Australian choreographer, film director and former dancer. He was artistic director of the Bangarra Dance Theatre, an Indigenous Australian dance company, from 1991 until 2022. During this time he choreographed or created 33 works for the company, as well as several other major works, including segments of the opening and closing ceremonies of the Sydney Olympic Games. He was artistic director of the 2004 Adelaide Festival of the Arts, and has also done work for theatre and film.

Early life and education Stephen Page was born in Brisbane in 1965. raised in the Brisbane suburb of Mt Gravatt. on his father's, but his parents lived in a time where they were not able to celebrate their Aboriginal identity. and felt fortunate to be able to do so, as all of his older sisters had to leave school at a young age to work and bring in income for the family. There he learnt music and some dance, although did not obtain a Higher School Certificate. He graduated from NAISDA in 1983 after three years, gaining a certificate and diploma. In 1984, Page choreographed his first major work, Warumpi Warumpi, for a choreographic workshop at NAISDA. ), Poppy, Company of Wo/men and King Roger. He also toured to Greece, Italy, Japan, Hong Kong, and Korea with the company,

He did however do further work with Sydney Dance Company and Graeme Murphy, which he credits with teaching him choreography skills. Fish was later adapted by Page for the screen, shown on SBS Television in January 1999.

He choreographed Bangarra's Skin, which premiered at the Sydney Olympic Arts Festival in 2000. and won Helpmann Awards. It sold out in the US, with performances at Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York and Kennedy Centre in Washington DC. It also toured to the Theatre Royal Sydney and the Playhouse, Brisbane.

Bush, co-choreographed by Page and Frances Rings, was staged in Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane in 2003; Washington, New York, and Hawaii in 2004 Bangarra returned to the Sydney Opera House on 25 June another sell-out production co-choreographed by Page and Rings, Clan. Clan was a double bill, comprising Unaipon by Rings (who also danced) and Reflections by Page. As for most Bangarra productions, music was by David Page.

In 2005 Page choreographed Boomerang, which was staged in Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane.

In 2008 he created a new, full-length work for Bangarra, entitled Mathinna, inspired by and Bangarra's Awakenings to Washington, New York, and Ottawa. (first staged in 2007 ) Page and the dancers spent 10 days in Arnhem Land on a cultural exchange.

In 2018, Page co-created Dark Emu, with former Bangarra dancers Daniel Riley and Yolande Brown, danced by the current Bangarra ensemble. The work was inspired by Bruce Pascoe's book of the same name, and became the most successful production in Bangarra's history, and was highly critically acclaimed.

In early December 2021, Page announced that he would be stepping down from the role of artistic director of Bangarra at the end of 2022, handing over to Frances Rings from 2023.

Bangarra's last performance with Page as director was Wudjang: Not the Past, which premiered at the Sydney Festival in January 2022 before touring to Hobart, and then Adelaide as part of the Adelaide Festival. He left Bangarra at the end of 2022. There were discussions in the Sydney Aboriginal community about whether to boycott the Olympics, but it was Page's vision that "we needed a presence within the stadium and a true spirit to awaken the ground/ceremony especially for the rest of the world", and he met with Charlie Perkins, Isabel Coe, and others at Redfern Town Hall to thrash out the issues. In the end, the ceremony included 380 women from Central Desert, most of whom had never been to the city before; 500 people from the Kimberley, NE Arnhem Land, and elsewhere; 500 Torres Strait Islander students, and 500 Koori children from secondary schools in NSW.

In the evening of Sunday 18 March 2007, Page directed a traditional smoking ceremony in honour of the historic celebration marking the 75th anniversary of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, after a day-long celebratory event.

In 2018, Page directed or choreographed work for the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.

The 2024 Adelaide Festival commissioned Page to create a work to open the festival, Baleen Moondjan, which was performed on a huge stage in front of huge specially-constructed "whalebones" on the beach at Glenelg. It was Page's first major work since leaving Bangarra, and portrayed the relationships between baleen whales and First Nations totem systems. With music composed by Steve Francis, the performance combined contemporary dance, storytelling, and songs in English, Jandai, and Gumbaynggirr/Yaegl languages. Rapper DOBBY narrated, and actor Elaine Crombie played Gindara. The stories are drawn from his mother's Ngugi, Nunukul, and Moondjan heritage, from Minjerribah/Stradbroke Island in Queensland.

Theatre and screen Page's theatre credits include directing his own brother, musician David Page, in the one-man show Page 8, which toured Australia and the UK and was produced many times between 2004 and 2014.

Late in 2008, he went to Broome, Western Australia, as choreographer for the film adaptation of Bran Nue Dae,

He worked on the contemporary operatic film Black River,

In 2013, he was associate director on the Sydney Theatre Company's production of Andrew Bovell's play The Secret River, which had its world premiere as part of Sydney Festival in August 2013.

Personal life Page's brother musician David Page (1961–2016) was composer for Bangarra, and younger brother Russell Page (1968–2002), was a dancer and "the muse" for Bangarra. He later said that his job "and my creative skills and spirit was probably what saved me through the journey of my brothers both passing", and sees art as medicine. He also has a stepdaughter, Tamika Walker, daughter of ex-partner Cynthia/Sabine. Page and Lochard separated in around 1998, which he attributes partly to the stress of frequent overseas tours, building Bangarra into a major company, and preparations for the Sydney Olympics. However they have always maintained a respectful relationship. For two years sometime later they lived in a large share house together, co-parenting when they could, with several other women who also stepped in to help.

In November 2023, he was a guest in a podcast by parenting expert Maggie Dent, called The Good Enough Dad, in which he spoke about how being raised by women made him a good father.

Recognition and honours His alma mater, Cavendish Road State High School, named one of its school houses "Page" in his honour. The house colour is purple, and members call themselves the "Page Pythons".

In 2008, Page was named New South Wales Australian of the Year,

In the 2017 Queen's Birthday Honours (12 June), Page was appointed Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) "for distinguished service to the performing arts and contemporary dance, through enriching Australia's cultural environment, and by presenting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts to the world".

Awards and nominations Bangarra Dance Theatre has won numerous awards for their performances, including many Helpmann Awards. Page himself has also won several, including Best Choreography in a Ballet, Dance or Physical Theatre Production as well as Best New Australian Work for Bennelong in 2018. Helpmann and other prominent awards are listed below, followed by a list of other personal awards won by Page.

Australian Dance Awards The Australian Dance Awards recognise excellence and promote dance in Australia. They are awarded under the auspices of the Australian Dance Council (Ausdance) for performance, choreography, design, dance writing, teaching and related professions. (wins only) 1997 Stephen Page (Artistic Director of Bangarra Dance Theatre) Outstanding achievement in choreography

Deadly Awards The Deadly Awards, (commonly known as The Deadlys), was an annual celebration of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander achievement in music, sport, entertainment and community. They ran from 1996 to 2013. (wins only) Deadly Awards 2008 Stephen Page and Bangarra Dance Theatre Outstanding Achievement in Entertainment Deadly Awards 2009 Stephen Page and Bangarra Dance Theatre Achievement in Theatre or Live Performance

Helpmann Awards The Helpmann Awards are a series of awards celebrating live entertainment and performing arts in Australia, presented by industry group Live Performance Australia since 2001. Note: 2020 and 2021 were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Helpmann Award for Best Choreography in a Ballet or Dance Work

Helpmann Award for Best New Australian Work

Best Choreography in a Ballet or Dance Work

Best New Australian Work

Best New Australian Work

Helpmann Award for Best Original Score Stephen Page and Steven McTaggart "Rush" for Walkabout (Bangarra Dance Theatre) Best Choreography in a Ballet or Dance Work

Stephen Page for Bush (Bangarra Dance Theatre) Best Choreography in a Ballet or Dance Work

Stephen Page for Mathinna (Bangarra Dance Theatre) Best Choreography in a Dance or Physical Theatre Production

Stephen Page for Fire (Bangarra Dance Theatre) Best Choreography in a Dance or Physical Theatre Production

Stephen Page for ID from Belong (Bangarra Dance Theatre) Best Choreography in a Ballet or Dance Work

Stephen Page for Patyegarang (Bangarra Dance Theatre) Best Choreography in a Dance or Physical Theatre Production

Stephen Page, Bernadette Walong-Sene, Djakapurra Munyarryun for Ochres (Bangarra Dance Theatre) Best Choreography in a Dance or Physical Theatre Work

Stephen Page JC Williamson Award

Stephen Page for Bennelong (Bangarra Dance Theatre) Best New Australian Work

(wins only) 2012 Stephen Page Artist of the Year

Other awards Page was also the recipient of many other awards, including: 1993: Mo Award for Dance Performance of the Year 2022: Global Sydney Award

Footnotes