This article mentions ATSI people who have passed
When Roxie Syron was a little girl, all she wanted to do was dance. Now she has joined the internationally acclaimed Bangarra Dance Theatre, after discovering her family’s Aboriginal heritage. Editor in Chief Michelle Giglio reports.
Bangarra Dance Theatre was formed 35 years ago as a contemporary company made up solely of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) professional dancers who would perform work by First Nations people. At its core was a mission to celebrate and tell the stories of cultures which are 65,000 years old to people across Australia – and the world. Delved from the Wiradjuri words ‘to make fire,’ Bangarra has gone from strength to strength since 1989, with over 72,000 live audience viewers in 2023, and is known as one of the most successful First Nations dance companies in Australia.
It is within this legacy that Biripi and Worimi woman Roxie Syron has joined Bangarra on the Russell Page Graduate Program. Russell, brother of former artistic director Stephen Page, danced with Bangarra for 12 years and the program was created in 2015 to honour his immense talent and contribution to the company.
Roxie, 22, only discovered her Aboriginal heritage around 15 years ago. A distant relative reached out to her father and told him he was descended from the First Nations people who lived around Port Macquarie and Taree.
“I am very proud of my Aboriginal heritage, and the fact that I have something I can go towards and keep learning about. It’s never ending.”
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Roxie’s path to Bangarra has been a long time in the making. She started dance at just five, and it was soon clear that ballet, jazz and contemporary were her calling. “All I ever wanted to do as a child was dance. I went to high school and decided I wanted to be paid for this!” Roxie laughs.
By Year 7 Roxie had started studying dance part-time at a studio, while enrolled at Narrabeen Sports High. Her main focus was ballet, but she soon discovered it was not her passion. “Contemporary is my thing,” Roxie says.
“Being able to perform on stage and that feeling of confidence I get when I’m on stage… I’m on there and I forget about the audience and I just dance.”
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The Collaroy resident has just finished her second pre-professional year at Sydney Dance Company, which is located right next to Bangarra at Walsh Bay. She had been ‘watching Bangarra for a while,’ she says, enthralled about how it blended traditional ATSI dance with contemporary styles.
“I’d always loved the stories they told, getting people to understand (our) culture and talk about things that need to be talked about through movement, which is incredible. And I knew when I was younger that I wanted to be in a contemporary company that told stories and made the audience feel something.”
It was when she saw Bangarra’s 2024 production of Horizon that she
decided: “I have to be here.”
“It was so intense and so moving – everything about it. And the choreography’s insane. I love choreography. I felt so many emotions throughout it and that’s when I knew I wanted to be a part of Bangarra, a company which brings out so many emotions in people. Making people feel emotions is my favourite thing!” she laughs.
After a secondment to Bangarra in 2024, Roxie joined the Russell Page Graduate Program in January, successfully selected from more than 30 applicants. “I’ve wanted to be in a company for so long, it was the biggest dream of mine. The fact I can say that I’m a working dancer is mind blowing!” Roxie made her ensemble debut in The Light Inside when the company started its regional tour in February, which finishes in Ballarat on 25 October. The piece is Bangarra’s first cross-cultural collaboration, which joins together Torres Strait Islander traditions – as choregraphed by Deborah Brown – with Māori stories. “The Light Inside explores cultural kinship with water and sky, and what it means to call somewhere home,” says Bangarra artistic director Frances Rings.
As part of the rehearsal, Māori choreographer Moss Te Ururangi Patterson spent a week with the Bangarra dancers, telling them about his family and culture. “I want to understand the story more so that I can portray it better through movement,” Roxie says. “Moss based it on the Haka, so his piece features more strong movements (than Deborah’s) and he made a lot more noise with everything. While Deborah’s had a lot of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander movements in it, like breaking.
“Not break dancing!” she laughs. “It’s a lot of cracking our hands and twisting them because we were portraying coral in the sea.”
Dance requires the performer to put everything into portraying the story, as there is no speech. It must be difficult to get people to understand what you’re trying to say through your body, I suggest to Roxie. “At Bangarra we dance the story through movement,” she explains.
The Syron siblings Mackenzie, Roxie, Cooper and Summer Tru
Roxie in front of poster of Bangarra’s SandSong (2022)
“I am very proud of my Aboriginal heritage, and the fact that I have something that I can go towards and keep learning about. It’s never-ending.”
As a young ballerina
“You can do it through your face – but it’s not the same as acting. But you can, from far away, see what type of motion we’re trying to portray through our body. Because instead of doing it just here [she says, pointing to her face], we’re doing it everywhere. You can see it through the fingers. For anger – you can see the tenseness. Or if it’s sadness, it’s more soft.”
When the Bangarra creative team is developing choreography, they will go on Country to hear more from elders who help place the story they want to tell, which is then shared with the dancers.
It’s all part of the ATSI tradition of sharing culture through storytelling and dance – and the foundation of why Bangarra was first formed. “Storytelling is the heart of Indigenous culture, and to be able to contribute and inspire storytelling through contemporary dance is extremely valuable,” Roxie reflects.
Roxie herself is continuing to learn and have a deeper connection with her own people, and hopes to learn more with a future trip on Country. For now, she is looking forward to her Bangarra debut in the regions, with first stop Wollongong.
“I’m so excited. So very excited!” Roxie says. “I never expected it to be so quick. I’m used to training, training, training, for the whole year, and then in the last term performing. But being able to perform multiple shows and travel – it’s going be so fun.”
Roxie admits she does get nervous before a show, but for her, the greatest part of dancing is performing.
“I love choreography. Love it to bits. I’ll do it any day. Give me a count, I’ve got it. I pick up choreography really quickly. It’s my best trait. But being able to perform on stage and that feeling of confidence I get when I’m on stage… I’m on there and I forget about the audience and I just dance.
“You don’t realise how much of an impact you make until afterwards. People come up to you and say, ‘That was really good.’ (And I laugh, thinking) ‘I didn’t realise that!’”
As for what she feels on stage? “Oh, I feel the music. That’s my main thing. And when I was younger, I would put choreography to the music and I would know what step it should be. I really embody the music.”
After her year with the company, Roxie is hoping to be offered a contract – nine of the current ensemble of 16 started as Russell Page graduates. For now, it’s all about learning.
“My favourite thing is to learn from a new teacher. You can never learn too much.
“It’s hard work. But hard work always pays off. That’s why people always say: ‘Don’t give up.’ Enjoy the journey. The journey’s fun.”
See Roxie perform in Bangarra’s Illume at the Sydney Opera House from 4 to 14 June. For tickets see bangarra.com.au
