Bangarra Dance Theatre brings Terrain to Canberra Theatre Centre for 10th anniversary tour

The multi-award-winning work, which returned to the Canberra Theatre on Thursday, was the first full-length commission to be choreographed by Rings. It explored the wonder of Kati Thanda (Lake Eyre) in South Australia, Australia's largest salt lake and one of the world's few untouched natural waterways.

But while the work is inspired by that particular part of the world, the conversation and understanding that Terrain invokes is one that Ring says is important to bring to the forefront.

The 65-minute performance is a homage to Country, inspired by the vulnerability of ecosystems, as well as the relationship that Indigenous people have with it.

"Terrain is is such a beautiful exploration into Country and into what the many layers of that relationship to Country is," Rings says.

"And every day Indigenous people navigate this, their responsibility to their community, to their Country, to their family.

"This work was really inspired by giving non-Indigenous people some insight into that, and a bit more of a deeper understanding into navigating with that relationship and what that connection is."

The original creation of the piece saw Rings and other Bangarra creatives travel to South Australia and consult with Arabunna elder Reginald Dodd.

The process - which took place over several trips to the area, both when the lake was full and empty - was a chance for Rings to not only see what the area looked like, but what Country brought to the Indigenous people in that part of Australia.

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"That was an important beginning place - starting from that site, and hearing that information, seeing Country, seeing the light, the textures," Rings said.

"It is an incredible part of the world that you feel the scars of millennia etched into the landscape all around you. And it's very abstract.

"You take all that information and you go back and for me, I was like, 'How do I tell a story of Country? How do you describe Country in choreography and through movement?'

"I remember Uncle Reg saying, it's really important for you to see it from your perspective, from where you stand."

Since Terrain was first performed it has become a seminal piece not only for Bangarra Dance Theatre but within the wider community.

After its acclaimed world premiere season, it went on to win two Helpmann Awards including Best Ballet/Dance Work and was also selected as a text for the HSC dance curriculum as a defining piece of Australian choreography.

In fact, that was the first interaction some of the performers in the 2022 version had with Terrain. And for those in the new cast who didn't study the work, they saw it when it was originally performed.

"I think there's a timeless element to it, there is an enduring issue that we, as Indigenous people will always have in our forefront of who we are, and our priorities, and that's our care for Country," Rings said.

"And it's ensuring that we are protecting it for future generations. It's a cornerstone of our existence, identity is born from that connection.

"The spiritual and the physical, the cultural, when we look back in history about land rights and native title, it's political, but that's who we are."

Terrain will be at the Canberra Theatre Centre until Saturday. For tickets go to canberratheatrecentre.com.au.

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