Inspired by the songs and stories of North East Arnhem Land, Artistic Director Stephen Page combines exhilarating dance and stunning theatricality in Boomerang. Boomerang captures the old and the new in powerful visions, revealing the impact of social poisons and the beauty of forgotten rituals.

This production features the First Nations language Yolngu Matha (Yirritja) (North East Arnhem Land).

Sections of Boomerang

Prelude

First World - Gapu (Water)
Nama (Looking) - Family return to the land - looking through the eyes of their spiritual Elders
Baltha (Rain Cloud) - Traditional women's dance - the cloud promises rain and signals a change in the seasons
Acid Rain - A vision of exposing our current climate - both environmental and political.
Ngukurr (Canoe) - A fusion of the old and the new - men reflect on the way their brothers and fathers hunted in the past
Malarrar (Manta Ray) - Aboriginal boys observe the qualities of the Manta Ray as the totem for their clan, its powers as prey, and value as medicine.

Second World - Gutha (Fire)
Youth • Sensuality
Poison • Alcohol
Domestic Violence
Gularray (Gulping)

Third World - Munathar (Earth)
Mungygha (Dilly Bag) - The healing begins - women arrive on sacred ground to hunt for bush medicine.
Barrdamy (Mining) - The modern world challenges the traditional spirit of the land. Spirits are cleansed as sacred songs are danced back into the land.
Dream Sequence - Releasing our dreaming into the world.
Wanna Mala (Gathering) - traditional dance - the gathering of clans
Nulgu (Knowledge) - The elder observes the passing-on of knowledge to the next generation - reclaiming the integrity of the past

Duration: 70 minutes

Boomerang premiered in 2005.