Illume (Bangarra) ★★★★★

Choreographed by Frances Rings & the Dancers of Bangarra Dance Theatre. Sydney Opera House, Dame Joan Sutherland Theatre. 4-14 Jun, 2025.

Bangarra’s new show is bringing the galactic to Gadigal with a dance of light. This is Illume.

Moving from their decades-long home at the Sydney Opera House Drama Theatre, Bangarra Dance Theatre have moved up in the world—specifically to the Dame Joan Sutherland Theatre—giving them more space to expand their ambition, and it shows.

Illume is a deeply spiritual, sci-fi-infused show blending an Indigenous futurism aesthetic with ancient movement and belief. It opens with darkness and the first flickers of distant stars in an immersive 3D space (a beautiful blend of lighting and projection by Damien Cooper and Craig Wilkinson). As the troupe of dancers begin to take the stage, the key theme of light is everywhere, with half-obscured ruins filling the skyline like astrological symbols to the beats of Brendon Boney’s soundtrack (can we get a soundtrack released please?).

Much of Illume floats in a liminal space—its 11 distinct chapters flow in and out of each other so seamlessly you barely register them. As the dancers sweep across the stage floor, they alter the staging piece by piece so elements seem to appear out of the ether. In doing so, dramatic and vivid vignettes emerge from the darkness.

The centrepiece is the collaboration between choreographer Frances Rings and Goolarrgon Bard visual artist Darrell Sibosado, who have created a show that is as much multidisciplinary performance art as it is pure dance. Rings’ choreography, mixed with the forward-looking visuals, gives Illume a contemporary and commercial edge—one rooted in history but always looking towards the future.

Just when you think you have a grip on the show’s style, it morphs into something new. A giant mother-of-pearl shell descending from the ceiling becomes an alien behemoth to be worshipped. A sequence of rich red projections and a whipping fringe dress (costumes by Elizabeth Gadsbey) washes across the stage like a rush of blood to the head. Illume may delve into the abstract, but it does so with such verve and confidence you’ll happily go along for the ride.

The result is a show of remarkably stark imagery. These visuals will stick with me far longer than the projections of the Vivid Festival outside. With the energy of a stadium R&B gig and the creative drive of artists striving for the new, Illume sets Bangarra Dance Theatre on a path for the stars.