Estuary by Ngioka Bunda-Heath

A man and a woman lean against on another, standing in water with legs slightly bent. They stare intently beyond the camera. A blue sky with clouds shines behind them.

Presented by Darebin Arts Speakeasy and Melbourne Fringe

A duet of saltwater and freshwater

“Bunda-Heath belongs to a new generation of emerging Indigenous choreographers who are very quickly becoming known for their emotional intelligence and appetite for adventure and risk.” – Jacob Boehme, Witness Performance

Wakka Wakka, Ngugi and Birrpai choreographer Ngioka Bunda-Heath has worked with leading companies including Bangarra Dance Theatre, Chunky Move, Lucy Guerin Inc and Circa Cairns. Her works (Blood Quantum, Bridge and award-winning Birrpai), have each explored stories of her immediate family, using dance to consider the layering of histories, bloodlines and ancestral memory within the body.

Estuary is a duet at the meeting point of the rivers and the ocean. Working with dancers Jack Sheppard (Tagalaka, Dagalag) and Brooklyn Bond (Yorta Yorta, Dja Dja Wurrung, Latji Latji), this new work explores a dual identity of saltwater and freshwater, and First Nation connection to the land, the sky and the waterways.

Currents collide, merge and transform, as the dancers build embodied languages of flow, resistance and connection. Both intimate and expansive, Estuary dives beneath the surface, pulling us into a space of reflection, tension, and renewal.

Featuring archival voice recordings and original footage taken on Country, Estuary will transport you – rendering large the beauty of landscape, and the crosscurrents of dispossession and reclamation that continue to play out.

“I’m interested in how the body can hold multiple histories at once — how we carry Country, memory and change within us. Estuary is about that meeting point, where things don’t always sit easily, but something new can emerge.” – Ngioka Bunda-Heath

Content Warnings

This event includes audio recordings of the voices of deceased Indigenous persons. The production contains loud noises, use of haze, and flashing and flickering lights

Age Suitability

This production is suitable for all ages.

Reviews

"A charming evocation of place from a Frist Nations perspective." - Andrew Furhmann, The Age Four golden stars lined up next to each other.

"An absorbing, intricately composed work, moving through states of connection, separation, resistance and return. It is often beautiful. It is rarely restful." - Ellen Scott, Melbourne Stage Review

“The work is infused with a light and life that demands to be experienced by many. Magnificent.” - Kenton Stevens, Theatre Now

"At the core of this work is an expression of respect and love for Country which is beguiling, inviting and filled with a delicate offering of talent and imagination." - Ruth Ritcher, Stage Whispers

Special Performances

Preview: Wed 7 October, 7.30pm
Opening Night: Thu 8 October, 7.30pm
Post-show Artist Talk: Sat 10 October, 2pm
Mob Night: Sat 10 October, 7.30pm

Mob night:

Join us for Mob Night and experience Estuary — a powerful new First Nations contemporary dance duet by Ngioka Bunda-Heath (Wakka Wakka, Ngugi and Birrpai) exploring saltwater, freshwater, Country, identity and ancestral memory. Come together, celebrate First Nations storytelling and share an evening of dance, connection and community. Light catering and drinks will be provided after the performance.

Creative Team

Choreographer: Ngioka Bunda-Heath
Featuring: Jack Sheppard and Brooklyn Bond
Production Manager & Lead Lighting Designer: Rachel Rui Qian Lee
Projection & Co-Lighting Designer: Shiv Geaney
Co-Lighting Designer: Niklas Pajanti
Production Manager & Lighting Operator: Samar Uraizee
Sound Designer and Operator: Daniel Nixon
Mentor: Rheannan Port
VCA Professional Placement Students: Kate Amour & Jason Chiu

Artist Bio

Ngioka Bunda-Heath is Wakka Wakka, Ngugi from Queensland; and Birrpai from New South Wales. She graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts, as the first Aboriginal woman in dance. She has worked for Bangarra Dance Theatre in “Rekindling” their youth education program; Circa Cairns as Community Lead and is currently Producer and First Peoples Project Lead at Chunky Move.

Ngioka received the Hutchinson Indigenous Fellowship and Residency 2021, the Chloe Munro AO/Lucy Guerin Inc Independent Artist fellowship 2022, and the Brisbane Powerhouse Wandima Fellowship 2023. Ngioka has performed in works for companies DubaiKungkaMiyalk (DKM), Lucy Guerin Inc. and Joel Bray Dance as well as for independent artist Sarah Aiken and Rebecca Jensen among others.

Internationally, she’s participated in dance conferences, festivals, and residencies in New Caledonia, France, Canada, America, and Japan. Ngioka’s choreographic work includes Blood Quantum (2019), Birrpai (2021) awarded Dance Best Duo/Ensemble at the Greenroom Awards, Bridge (2022) and Footprints (2022).

Image by James Henry

This project was supported through the Australian Government's Indigenous Languages and Arts program and MECCA. It has been Fringe Funded, as part of Deadly Fringe, with thanks to the Canny Quine Foundation, the Sue Beeton Fund, Julie Kantor and Craig Semple.

Estuary has been developed through the support of Brisbane Powerhouse Wandima Fellowship, an initiative delivered in partnership with Queensland University of Technology, GUTS Dance SPILL Residency, and Na Djinang Circus' First Nations Creative Exchange. It received funding support through the Chloe Munro AO/Lucy Guerin Inc Independent Artist Fellowship 2022.