Stephen Page

This article is about the Australian dancer. For other people with the same name, see Steven Page (disambiguation).

Stephen Page AO
Occupations	Artistic director dancer choreographer film director
Known for	Bangarra Dance Theatre
Relatives	David Page (brother) Russell Page (brother) Hunter Page-Lochard (son)

Stephen George Page AO is an Australian choreographer, film director and former dancer. He is the former artistic director of the Bangarra Dance Theatre, an Indigenous Australian dance company. Page is descended from the Nunukul people and the Munaldjali of the Yugambeh people from southeast Queensland, Australia.

Early life and education

Stephen George Page^{[ citation needed ]} was one of 12 children, raised in the Brisbane suburb of Mt Gravatt. His mother did not celebrate her Aboriginal identity until she met Page's father. He was educated at the Cavendish Road State High School, Brisbane. ^[1]

He moved to Sydney when he was 16 and trained with the Aboriginal Islander Dance Theatre, which would later become the National Aboriginal Islander Skills Development Association (NAISDA). ^[2] He graduated from NAISDA in 1983.^{[ citation needed ]}

Career

Page first danced with the Sydney Dance Company. ^[2]

In 1991, he was appointed creative director of the Bangarra Dance Theatre, with his brothers Russell and David joining around the same time. ^[2]

He choreographed Mooggrah for Bangarra, Trackers of Oxyrhyncus for the Sydney Theatre Company, and a sextet for Opera Australia's Marriage of Figaro. During that time he also toured with the NAISDA associated Aboriginal Islander Dance Theatre.^{[ citation needed ]}

With his works Praying Mantis Dreaming, Ninni and the 1994 production Ochres, co-choreographed with then assistant artistic director Bernadette Walong-Sene, Page established a milestone for Australian dance. In 1996 he made his creative debut with the Australian Ballet, choreographing Alchemy. The following year, he brought the Australian Ballet and Bangarra together in Rites, set to Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring . The following year he choreographed Fish for Bangarra, with its world premiere taking place at the Edinburgh International Festival.^{[ citation needed ]}

Page choreographed the flag handover ceremony for the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games and co-directed segments of the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. He also created the ceremony that opened the Olympic Arts Festival. He choreographed Skin, which premiered at the festival and won the coveted Helpmann Award for Best New Australian Work and Best Dance Work. His triple bill Corroboree toured internationally, with a sell-out tour of the US including appearances at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York and the Kennedy Centre in Washington. The work earned Page a Helpmann Award for Best Choreography. The following year, he was honoured with a Matilda Award for his contribution to the arts in Queensland. In the same year, he choreographed Totem for The Australian Ballet's principal dancer, Stephen Heathcote. 2002 also saw the world premiere of Bangarra's double bill, Walkabout, which Page co-choreographed with Frances Rings.^{[ citation needed ]}

Page and Rings later co-choreographed Bush for Bangarra, which sold out on its Australian tour as well as its 2004 tour to the United States. Also in 2004, Bangarra returned to the Sydney Opera House with another sell-out production co-choreographed by Page and Rings, Clan. The following year Page choreographed Boomerang, which had a sell-out Australian tour.^{[ citation needed ]}

As artistic director of the 2004 Adelaide Festival of the Arts, Page was praised^{[ who? ]} for reinvigorating the event with an impressive and highly successful world-class program. His film and theatre credits include the contemporary operatic film Black River , numerous music video clips, and directing his own brother, David Page, in the one-man show Page 8 which toured the UK.^{[ citation needed ]}

In 2006, Page and the Australian Ballet created Gathering, a double bill consisting of a reworked Rites and Amalgamate. Also in 2006, Queensland Art Gallery director asked him to create a new dance work for the opening of the Gallery of Modern Art. Along with his son and nephews, he created Kin, a special project that opened Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art.^{[ citation needed ]}

In 2007, Page directed a traditional smoking ceremony in honour of the historic celebration marking the 75th anniversary of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Later in the year, during Bangarra's True Stories season, he directed Victorian Opera's Orphée et Eurydice in Melbourne and presented another sell-out season of Kin at the Malthouse Theatre.^{[ citation needed ]}

In 2008 he created a new, full-length work for Bangarra, entitled Mathinna, which won a Helpmann Award in 2009 for Best Dance Work and Best Choreography. He then took Rites to London and Paris with the Australian Ballet, and Bangarra's Awakenings to Washington, New York and Ottawa. Later in 2008, he went to Broome, Western Australia, as choreographer for the film adaptation of Bran Nue Dae .^{[ citation needed ]}

In 2009, after returning from a tour of Germany, Hungary and Austria with True Stories, Page and the dancers spent 10 days in Arnhem Land on a cultural exchange. He celebrated Bangarra's 20th anniversary with Fire – A Retrospective, which won an Australian Dance Award for Outstanding Performance by a Company.^{[ citation needed ]}

In early December 2021, Page announced that he would be stepping down from the role of artistic director of Bangarra in 2022, handing over to Frances Rings, current associate artistic director. ^[3]

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. ^[4]

Film

In 2015 his directorial debut film, Spear , was shown at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival. ^[5]

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. ^[1]

In 2008, Page was named New South Wales Australian of the Year, receiving the award from Deputy Premier John Watkins at a ceremony at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.^{[ citation needed ]}

In 2015, Page was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Creative Arts by the University of Technology Sydney. ^[6]

In 2016, the NAIDOC Lifetime Achievement Award went to Page for his work as Director of the Bangarra Dance Theatre. ^{[7] [8]}

From February to August 2016, Martin Portus (former Director of Marketing and Communication at the Australia Council for the Arts) conducted an interview with Page, who discussed significant periods in the history of the Bangarra Dance Theatre, beginning with the nature of his access to traditional cultures, especially in north-east Arnhem Land. ^[9]

In the 2017 Queen's Birthday Honours, 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." ^[10]

Awards and nominations

• 1993: Mo Award for Dance Performance of the Year ^[11]
• 1993: Paris Opera Screen Award, Grand Prix for Black River^{[ citation needed ]}
• 2002: Matilda Award for Contribution to the Arts in Queensland^{[ citation needed ]}
• 2003: Sidney Myer Performing Arts Award
• 2017: Australia Council Dance Award ^{[ citation needed ]}
• 2022: Red Ochre Award ^{[ citation needed ]}
• 2022: Inaugural Wendy Blacklock Industry Legend Award ^[12]

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.^{[ citation needed ]}

Year	Nominee / work	Award	Result (wins only)	Ref.
1997	Stephen Page (Artistic Director of Bangarra Dance Theatre)	Outstanding achievement in choreography	Won
2010	Stephen Page	Services to Dance	awarded	[13] [14]

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.

Year	Nominee / work	Award	Result (wins only)	Ref.
Deadly Awards 2008	Stephen Page and Bangarra Dance Theatre	Outstanding Achievement in Entertainment	awarded	[15]
Deadly Awards 2009	Stephen Page and Bangarra Dance Theatre]]	Achievement in Theatre or Live Performance	Won

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. ^[16] Note: 2020 and 2021 were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Year	Nominee / work	Award	Result	Ref.
2001	Stephen Page for Skin (Bangarra Dance Theatre)	Helpmann Award for Best Choreography in a Ballet or Dance Work	Nominated	[17]
		Helpmann Award for Best New Australian Work	Won
2002	Stephen Page for Corroboree (Bangarra Dance Theatre)	Best Choreography in a Ballet or Dance Work	Won	[18]
		Best New Australian Work	Nominated
2003	Stephen Page for Walkabout (Bangarra Dance Theatre)	Best New Australian Work	Won	[19]
		Helpmann Award for Best Original Score	Won
	Stephen Page and Steven McTaggart "Rush" for Walkabout (Bangarra Dance Theatre)	Best Choreography in a Ballet or Dance Work	Nominated
2004	Stephen Page for Bush (Bangarra Dance Theatre)	Best Choreography in a Ballet or Dance Work	Nominated	[20]
2009	Stephen Page for Mathinna (Bangarra Dance Theatre)	Best Choreography in a Dance or Physical Theatre Production	Won	[21]
2010	Stephen Page for Fire (Bangarra Dance Theatre)	Best Choreography in a Dance or Physical Theatre Production	Won	[22]
2012	Stephen Page for ID from Belong (Bangarra Dance Theatre)	Best Choreography in a Ballet or Dance Work	Won	[23]
2015	Stephen Page for Patyegarang (Bangarra Dance Theatre)	Best Choreography in a Dance or Physical Theatre Production	Nominated	[24]
2016	Stephen Page, Bernadette Walong-Sene, Djakapurra Munyarryun for Ochres (Bangarra Dance Theatre)	Best Choreography in a Dance or Physical Theatre Work	Nominated	[25]
	Stephen Page	JC Williamson Award	awarded
2018	Stephen Page for Bennelong (Bangarra Dance Theatre)	Best New Australian Work	Won	[26]

NAIDOC Awards

The NAIDOC Awards are annual Australian awards conferred on Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individuals during the national celebration of the history, culture and achievements of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples known as NAIDOC Week. (The name is derived from National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee.) ^[27]

Year	Nominee / work	Award	Result (wins only)	Ref.
2012	Stephen Page	Artist of the Year	Won
2016	Stephen Page	Lifetime achievement award	awarded	[28] [29]

References

1. Russell, Stephen A (9 June 2021). "Bangarra's Stephen Page opens his heart about creating new show 'SandSong'". Time Out Sydney. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
2. Maley, Jacqueline (24 December 2020). "Bangarra's Stephen Page on pain, politics and pushing boundaries". The Sydney Morning Herald .
3. Jefferson, Dee (2 December 2021). "Stephen Page to step down from Bangarra artistic director role, passing torch to Frances Rings". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation . Retrieved 7 December 2021.
4. Cathcart, Michael (7 December 2021). "Elaine Crombie will calm you down before she punches you in the guts" (Audio + text). ABC Radio National . The Stage Show. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
5. "Spear Review". Variety. 11 September 2015. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
6. "Stephen Page".
7. "First Indigenous nurse graduate among winners at the 2016 NAIDOC awards". ABC News. 8 July 2016. Archived from the original on 11 July 2016. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
8. Smith, Emily (9 July 2016). "Indigenous dancer and director wins lifetime achievement award". Sydney Morning Herald . Retrieved 11 July 2016.
9. "File 5: Stephen Page interviewed by Martin Portus, 24 February 2016". State Library of New South Wales Catalogue. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
10. "Officer (AO) in the General Division in the Order of Australia" (PDF). www.gg.gov.au. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 September 2017. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
11. "MO Award Winners". Mo Awards. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
12. "Impact Awards". PAC Australia. 8 August 2022. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
13. "Winners of the 2010 Australian Dance Awards". Archived from the original on 14 August 2011. Retrieved 25 July 2011.
14. 2010 Australian Dance Award Winners Announced, Australian Stage, Monday, 21 June 2010 10:14
15. Dunn, Emily; Elicia Murray (10 October 2008). "Deadly Lot of Awards for Yunupingu". The Sydney Morning Herald. ISSN   0312-6315 . Retrieved 10 October 2008.
16. "Events & Programs". Live Performance Australia. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
17. "2001 Helpmann Awards Nominees & Winners". Helpmann Awards. Australian Entertainment Industry Association (AEIA). Retrieved 26 July 2022.
18. "2002 Helpmann Awards Nominees & Winners". Helpmann Awards. Australian Entertainment Industry Association (AEIA). Retrieved 26 July 2022.
19. "2003 Helpmann Awards Nominees & Winners". Helpmann Awards. Australian Entertainment Industry Association (AEIA). Retrieved 26 July 2022.
20. "2004 Helpmann Awards Nominees & Winners". Helpmann Awards. Australian Entertainment Industry Association (AEIA). Retrieved 26 July 2022.
21. "2008 Helpmann Awards Nominees & Winners". Helpmann Awards. Australian Entertainment Industry Association (AEIA). Retrieved 26 July 2022.
22. "2010 Helpmann Awards Nominees & Winners". Helpmann Awards. Australian Entertainment Industry Association (AEIA). Retrieved 26 July 2022.
23. "2012 Helpmann Awards Nominees & Winners". Helpmann Awards. Australian Entertainment Industry Association (AEIA). Retrieved 26 July 2022.
24. "2015 Helpmann Awards Nominees & Winners". Helpmann Awards. Australian Entertainment Industry Association (AEIA). Retrieved 26 July 2022.
25. "2016 Helpmann Awards Nominees & Winners". Helpmann Awards. Australian Entertainment Industry Association (AEIA). Retrieved 26 July 2022.
26. "2018 Helpmann Awards Nominees & Winners". Helpmann Awards. Australian Entertainment Industry Association (AEIA). Retrieved 26 July 2022.
27. "NAIDOC Awards". NAIDOC. Australian Government. Archived from the original on 30 September 2015. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
28. "First Indigenous nurse graduate among winners at the 2016 NAIDOC awards". ABC News. 8 July 2016. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
29. Smith, Emily (9 July 2016). "Indigenous dancer and director wins lifetime achievement award". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 11 July 2016.

External links

• Bangarra Dance Theatre
• Stephen Page at Australia Dancing ^[usurped]
• "Stephen Page interviewed by Martin Portus, 24 February 2016". Amplify -State Library of New South Wales Catalogue. Retrieved 4 June 2018.

Preceded by Sue Nattrass	Director of the Adelaide Festival of Arts 2004	Succeeded by Brett Sheehy