No single individual defines the clash of cultures that occurred at Sydney Cove in 1788 quite like Woollarawarre Bennelong, the Eora man who became an intermediary between his clan and the colonial forces of Captain Arthur Phillip. Perhaps that explains why Stephen Page has waited 28 years before asking Bangarra to engage with this seminal tale of first contact. Dauntingly iconic, profoundly sad, Bennelong is beautifully realised by a sensitive and experienced creative team, a phalanx of dancers at the top of their game, and features a career-defining central performance of enormous strength and grace from Beau Dean Riley Smith.

Beau Dean Riley Smith and Bangarra dancers in Bennelong. Photo © Daniel Boud

As Jacob Nash’s smouldering disc hangs balefully over a blackened landscape, the earth itself, divided into the traditional Aboriginal groupings of male and female, appears to give birth to Bennelong. With something of the implacable weight of Greek drama, the warrior is cleansed for battle, whether he be hero or scapegoat is yet to be seen. In these early sequences of custom and convention, Page’s choreography taps into elements of his signature Bangarra style, the men leggy and...