In Yolngu painting, bir’yun describes the brilliance, shimmer and shine of a pattern that seems to move before the eyes, animated by the essence of ancestral forces.

This is the inspiration for Vicki Van Hout’s Briwyant, a work of choreographic dexterity and interdisciplinary innovation that brings to the stage an experience both ageless and fleeting; a moment of connection.

Dance, dynamic projections and a layered, textured soundscape will transport you well beyond the confines of the theatre into a realm of literal and figurative stories. With precision and a wholly original vision of Indigenous dance, Van Hout evokes, with compelling conviction, a future for the form that teams humour, history and raw physicality.

Watch the trailer.

Read the program.

Duration: 52 minutes no interval.

About Vicki Van Hout

Vicki Van Hout is a Wirradjerri woman born in Wollongong on the NSW south coast. An independent dancer, choreographer and teacher she trained at the National Aboriginal and Islander Skills Development Association – now the NAISDA Dance College.

In the early 90s she moved to New York and trained with leading modern and post-modern dance artists before returning to Australia in 1996 to perform with Bangarra Dance Theatre.

Vicki creates contemporary dance layered with Indigenous cultural information and imagery, her works to date having explored matrilineal kinship systems and welcome to country protocols.

Credits

Malthouse Theatre presents
BRIWYANT

Directed by Vicki Van Hout
Choreographed by Vicki Van Hout  in collaboration with the performers

Produced by Performance Space
Interactive Media Imogen Cranna 
Videography Marian Abboud
Lighting Design Neil Simpson
Composition Elias Constantopedos
Dramaturgy Kay Armstrong

Performed by
Henrietta Baird
Raghav Handa
Rosealee Pearson
Beau Smith
Melinda Tyquin
Vicki Van Hout

Briwyant was developed with the support  of the Australia Council, the Australian Government’s arts funding and advisory body,  Arts NSW, City of Sydney, Redfern Community Centre and Critical Path.

Malthouse Theatre’s Indigenous Theatre Program is made possible with the generous support of The Tom Kantor Fund

Photo Garth Oriander Pictured Henrietta Baird, Mel Tyquin, Raghav Handa and Vicki Van Hout