The Other Side of Me: a story about Australia’s Stolen Generations
28th July 2023
The Other Side of Me tells the true and tragic story of a
young Aboriginal man who was taken from his mother and brought up in the Southwest
of England.
It brings together an Indigenous Australian choreographer, a Black
British writer, and an academic in dance, with an inclusive and diverse creative
team, to devise a dance duet that explores the young man’s extraordinary
journey and his process of rediscovery – a search for self.
The production - a
cross-cultural collaboration between Northumbria University and Gary Lang, of the Northern Territory Dance Company (NTDC) - premieres at the Darwin Festival, Australia 2023. The two dancers represent the young man’s dual identities - the English
side he knew and the Indigenous side from which he had been severed.
The project forms a
long-term partnership between Gary Lang, a senior Larrakia man and Artistic
Director of the Indigenous-owned, Darwin-based, NTDC; and Dr Laura Fish and Liz Pavey, Assistant Professors at Northumbria University. It communicates a story
of personal trauma and poses important ethical and practical questions
concerning the cultural and personal dispossession the First Australians suffered
under white and colonial rule, by combining contemporary and traditional
Indigenous Australian dance with written words.
The
work is inspired by the life of a young First Nations man of Gurindji heritage whose
story is inseparable from the Australian federal and state government policies
(1910 until mid-1970s) to wrongfully remove children of Australian Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander descent from their families and culture – the Stolen
Generations.
Lang
has toured internationally and works as an ambassador for First Nations
cultures through his practice, which embraces and combines contemporary,
classical and traditional Aboriginal dance, in his own unique dance form
described as Aboriginal Ballet. Fish and Pavey have combined their expertise to
develop the project with Lang for over five years.
Issues
raised by the story include relationships
between country of origin, identity, adoption, the criminal justice system and
psychological health. These are of particular topical interest because this
October Australians will vote on the Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum,
which could see the formation of a federal advisory body made up of Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander people.
The Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander Voice would represent the views of First Nations people from
across Australia and provide their input into federal government decisions,
policies and laws that affect their lives.
The research forms part of a
wider project, ‘When Words Fail Us’ Expressing the Unspeakable: The Other Side
of Me. The project addresses issues that stem from the Australian holocaust of
the eighteenth century, including the constructs, notions, or assumptions of
racial inferiority, as well as the dispossession and subjugation of First
Nations peoples resulting from colonisation. The likelihood of the removal of Indigenous
Australian children from their families has increased since the “Bringing Them
Home” Australian National Inquiry report (1997). With the particular focus on
Stolen Generations’ stories, Fish and Pavey’s research refuses to historicise
past atrocities, and contributes to international discourses on forced
assimilation, genocide, and attempts to destroy traditional Indigenous life and
cultures.
As Dr Fish explains: “This
artistic collaboration explores experiences of Indigeneity in the contemporary world,
and it uses a leap of faith and imagination - physical theatre and
choreographed dance - to create live public performances that engage with the
concepts of space, displacement, confinement and loss.
“Traditionally, dance has a
very important place in the Indigenous cultures of Australia. We are thrilled
to work in partnership with Gary Lang. Gary’s background as a dancer, teacher
and choreographer means he is in a unique position to tell this story, which is
of global significance and pertinence.”
Speaking about the ambiguity and
equivocalness of dance, Gary has said: ‘I would like it [The Other Side of Me]
to be seen on stages throughout the world. People will see the story from
different angles. It’s like a multi-faceted gem – it sparkles in a different way,
or it’s dull in a different way.”
Northumbria’s Arts Department Offers A Stimulating And Dynamic Learning Environment In Which To Study Flexible, Student-Orientated Courses. Staff Are Globally-Renowned, Research-Active Experts In Fine Art, Performance And Visual Cultures.
Humanities At Northumbria Is Composed Of Three Subject Teams: History, Literature & Creative Writing, And English Language & Linguistics, And Is Also Developing Strengths In The Fields Of American Studies And Heritage Studies.
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