News June 2015

To Be. Or Not To Be. Take 1.

As Hamlet develops this argument by asking whether it is more noble to endure life passively or look to end that suffering actively, he examines the problem as a logical question.

With the exception of Greenland, the Aboriginal youth suicide rate is higher than in every country in the world. Racism and loss of cultural identity is one of the main factors. Young Aboriginal people who are smart and educated cannot afford the resilience they need to cope with enduring racism. The feeling of disempowerment, the transgenerational trauma of genocide, overwhelms them in unbearable situations that they cannot escape. Ongoing racism is a big driver in suicide. They are hurt by it, tortured by it, smashed by it.

Australia is a nation of two peoples. The First People and the Australian people. There is an ongoing battle to find a way for reconciliation, for bridging the Gap, for uniting the two cultures. For making this country a greater one in the future to come.

Art has the power to do that. To support, to accelerate. All over the world art has the freedom to express, show and deal with situations otherwise seen as offensive. And it has the space to offer possible solutions. Paths that can be taken by both sides, without any risk, without losing face, without losing identity.

‘Meta – a journey’, our Dance Production, offers exactly that. And as we come across this notorious question we are determined to take the path of activity, and show what can be achieved. Be excited. We are.

‘There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.’ (Nelson Mandela)