Stephen Page

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Australian choreographer, film director and former dancer

title: "Stephen Page" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["australian-male-dancers", "australian-choreographers", "helpmann-award-winners", "indigenous-australian-filmmakers", "1965-births", "living-people", "officers-of-the-order-of-australia", "indigenous-australian-dancers", "21st-century-indigenous-australian-people", "20th-century-indigenous-australian-people", "20th-century-australian-dancers", "21st-century-australian-dancers", "musical-theatre-choreographers"] description: "Australian choreographer, film director and former dancer" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Page" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Australian choreographer, film director and former dancer ::

::data[format=table title="infobox person"]

Field	Value
name	Stephen Page
honorific_suffix	AO
birth_place	Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
birth_date
occupation
known_for	Bangarra Dance Theatre
relatives	David Page (brother)
Russell Page (brother)
Hunter Page-Lochard (son)
notable_works	Skin, Corroboree, Bennelong
::

| name = Stephen Page | honorific_suffix = AO | birth_place = Brisbane, Queensland, Australia | birth_date= | occupation = | known_for = Bangarra Dance Theatre | relatives = David Page (brother) Russell Page (brother) Hunter Page-Lochard (son) | notable_works = Skin, Corroboree, Bennelong Stephen George Page is an Aboriginal Australian choreographer, film director and former dancer. He was artistic director of the Bangarra Dance Theatre, an Indigenous Australian dance company, from 1991 until 2022. During this time he choreographed or created 33 works for the company, as well as several other major works, including segments of the opening and closing ceremonies of the Sydney Olympic Games. He was artistic director of the 2004 Adelaide Festival of the Arts, and has also done work for theatre and film.

Early life and education

Stephen George Page was born in Brisbane in 1965. raised in the Brisbane suburb of Mt Gravatt. on his father's, but his parents lived in a time where they were not able to celebrate their Aboriginal identity. Page has described his father as a "jack of all trades" and an excellent craftsman.

Page attended the Cavendish Road State High School in Brisbane from 1994 to 1997, and felt fortunate to be able to do so, as all of his older sisters had to leave school at a young age to work and bring in income for the family. There he learnt music and some dance, although did not obtain a Higher School Certificate.

He first worked as a trainee law clerk at the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island legal service, and he considered going on to study law at university, but was attracted by a poster about an Indigenous dance college. He graduated from NAISDA in 1983 after three years, gaining a certificate and diploma. In 1984, Page choreographed his first major work, Warumpi Warumpi, for a choreographic workshop at NAISDA.

Career

Early career

In 1986 Page was offered work with Graeme Murphy's Sydney Dance Company,), Poppy, Company of Wo/men and King Roger. He also toured to Greece, Italy, Japan, Hong Kong, and Korea with the company,

In 1988, during the bicentenary of Australia and the associated Indigenous activism, Page decided that he did not want to dance in a non-Indigenous company, so went back to NAISDA and became a teacher and choreographer.

He did however do further work with Sydney Dance Company and Graeme Murphy, which he credits with teaching him choreography skills. In 1991 he choreographed Trackers of Oxyrhyncus, as well as Mooggrah for the company's season, The Shakespeare Dances.

Also in 1991, he choreographed a sextet for Opera Australia's Marriage of Figaro.

Bangarra Dance Theatre

In 1991, Page was appointed principal choreographer of Bangarra Dance Theatre, and at the end of the year became artistic director. His brothers Russell and David joined Bangarra around the same time. In 1992 he choreographed Praying Mantis Dreaming, Bangarra's first full-length work, which toured widely that year and in 1993 (Canberra, Central Western NSW, Melbourne, Brisbane, China and Hong Kong, Sydney, Cairns, Western Australia, North East Arnhem Land, New York, Los Angeles, and London).

Also in 1996 he made his creative debut with the Australian Ballet, choreographing Alchemy,

He then co-choreographed Ochres (with then Bangarra assistant artistic director Bernadette Walong), Fish was later adapted by Page for the screen, shown on SBS Television in January 1999.

He choreographed Bangarra's Skin, which premiered at the Sydney Olympic Arts Festival in 2000. and won Helpmann Awards. The work looked at kinship ties across Aboriginal communities.

Bangarra's triple bill Corroboree, choreographed by Page and with music composed by his brother David and Steve Francis, toured internationally in 2001 and 2002, mainly in the US, but was also performed in China and Monaco. It sold out in the US, with performances at Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York and Kennedy Centre in Washington DC. It also toured to the Theatre Royal Sydney and the Playhouse, Brisbane.

Bush, co-choreographed by Page and Frances Rings, was staged in Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane in 2003; Washington, New York, and Hawaii in 2004 (where it sold out); Japan and New Zealand in 2005; and the UK in 2006.

In 2004, after two performances in Melbourne in April and June, Bangarra returned to the Sydney Opera House on 25 June another sell-out production co-choreographed by Page and Rings, Clan. Clan was a double bill, comprising Unaipon by Rings (who also danced) and Reflections by Page. As for most Bangarra productions, music was by David Page.

In 2005 Page choreographed Boomerang, which was staged in Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane.

On 17 March 2006, Page created Gathering for the Australian Ballet and Bangarra, a double bill consisting of a reworked Rites and Amalgamate, staged at The State Theatre in Melbourne.

In September/October 2007, he presented another sell-out season of Kin at the Malthouse Theatre in Melbourne.

In 2008 he created a new, full-length work for Bangarra, entitled Mathinna, inspired by and Bangarra's Awakenings to Washington, New York, and Ottawa.

In 2009, after returning from a tour of Germany, Hungary, and Austria with True Stories (choreographed by Elma Kris and Frances Rings), (first staged in 2007) Page and the dancers spent 10 days in Arnhem Land on a cultural exchange. This work featured many highlights and memorable performances, from its modest beginnings to its status as a world-renowned dance company.

In 2014, he directed Patyegarang, for Bangarra's 25th anniversary,

In 2018, Page co-created Dark Emu, with former Bangarra dancers Daniel Riley and Yolande Brown, danced by the current Bangarra ensemble. The work was inspired by Bruce Pascoe's book of the same name, and became the most successful production in Bangarra's history, and was highly critically acclaimed.

In June 2021, Page and Rings choreographed Sandsong, the first public production by the company since the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown in March 2020. The piece honours the legacy of Ningali Josie Lawford-Wolf, who had been a friend and cultural consultant to Bangarra, bringing stories of her Country as a Wangkatjunga woman, the Kimberley region of Western Australia.

In early December 2021, Page announced that he would be stepping down from the role of artistic director of Bangarra at the end of 2022, handing over to Frances Rings from 2023.

Bangarra's last performance with Page as director was Wudjang: Not the Past, which premiered at the Sydney Festival in January 2022 before touring to Hobart, and then Adelaide as part of the Adelaide Festival. He left Bangarra at the end of 2022. He had choreographed or created 33 works for and with Bangarra.

During his time with Bangarra, Page also spent time nurturing young talent through Bangarra's "Rekindling" youth program, a program led by retired senior dancers.

Other work

In 1996 Page choreographed the flag handover ceremony for the Atlanta Olympic Games, and in 2000 co-directed segments of the opening and closing ceremonies of the Sydney Olympic Games. There were discussions in the Sydney Aboriginal community about whether to boycott the Olympics, but it was Page's vision that "we needed a presence within the stadium and a true spirit to awaken the ground/ceremony especially for the rest of the world", and he met with Charlie Perkins, Isabel Coe, and others at Redfern Town Hall to thrash out the issues. In the end, the ceremony included 380 women from Central Desert, most of whom had never been to the city before; 500 people from the Kimberley, NE Arnhem Land, and elsewhere; 500 Torres Strait Islander students, and 500 Koori children from secondary schools in NSW.

Page was artistic director of the 2004 Adelaide Festival of the Arts, for which he received acclaim.

In 2006, the Queensland Art Gallery director asked him to create a new dance work for the opening of the Gallery of Modern Art. Along with his son Hunter Page-Lochard and nephews, he created Kin, a special project that opened Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art.

In the evening of Sunday 18 March 2007, Page directed a traditional smoking ceremony in honour of the historic celebration marking the 75th anniversary of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, after a day-long celebratory event.

In 2018, Page directed or choreographed work for the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. He has also choreographed works for the Australian Football League.

Waru – journey of the small turtle, directed by Page and written by his son Hunter, premiered in Sydney in 2023, and ran for two seasons before going on tour from 26 June to 9 November 2024. It was the first children's work performed by Bangarra, and won Best Production for Children in the Sydney Theatre Awards in 2023.

The 2024 Adelaide Festival commissioned Page to create a work to open the festival, Baleen Moondjan, which was performed on a huge stage in front of huge specially-constructed "whalebones" on the beach at Glenelg. It was Page's first major work since leaving Bangarra, and portrayed the relationships between baleen whales and First Nations totem systems. With music composed by Steve Francis, the performance combined contemporary dance, storytelling, and songs in English, Jandai, and Gumbaynggirr/Yaegl languages. Rapper DOBBY narrated, and actor Elaine Crombie played Gindara. The stories are drawn from his mother's Ngugi, Nunukul, and Moondjan heritage, from Minjerribah/Stradbroke Island in Queensland.

Theatre and screen

Page's theatre credits include directing his own brother, musician David Page, in the one-man show Page 8, which toured Australia and the UK and was produced many times between 2004 and 2014.

Late in 2008, he went to Broome, Western Australia, as choreographer for the film adaptation of Bran Nue Dae,

He worked on the contemporary operatic film Black River, and adapted the 1997 Bangarra work Fish, with the film shown on SBS Television in January 1999.

Page directed the chapter "Sand" in the 2013 feature film The Turning, and also choreographed the feature film The Sapphires (2011).

In 2013, he was associate director on the Sydney Theatre Company's production of Andrew Bovell's play The Secret River, which had its world premiere as part of Sydney Festival in August 2013.

In 2015 his directorial debut feature film, Spear, was shown at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival.

Personal life

Page's brother musician David Page (1961–2016) was composer for Bangarra, and younger brother Russell Page (1968–2002), was a dancer and "the muse" for Bangarra. He later said that his job "and my creative skills and spirit was probably what saved me through the journey of my brothers both passing", and sees art as medicine.

His son is actor Hunter Page-Lochard He also has a stepdaughter, Tamika Walker, daughter of ex-partner Cynthia/Sabine. Page and Lochard separated in around 1998, which he attributes partly to the stress of frequent overseas tours, building Bangarra into a major company, and preparations for the Sydney Olympics. However they have always maintained a respectful relationship. For two years sometime later they lived in a large share house together, co-parenting when they could, with several other women who also stepped in to help.

In May 2023, Page's family history was revealed in an episode (S14.E5) of Who Do You Think You Are? on SBS Television. In it, he met family previously unknown to him, who are South Pacific Islanders.

In November 2023, he was a guest in a podcast by parenting expert Maggie Dent, called The Good Enough Dad, in which he spoke about how being raised by women made him a good father.

Recognition and honours

His alma mater, Cavendish Road State High School, named one of its school houses "Page" in his honour. The house colour is purple, and members call themselves the "Page Pythons".

On 1 January 2001, Page was awarded a Centenary Medal, "for service to Australian society and dance".

In 2008, Page was named New South Wales Australian of the Year, "for his efforts to bring cultures together through art, and his role in mentoring the next generation of Indigenous storytellers and dancers". He received the award from Deputy Premier John Watkins in a ceremony at the Art Gallery of NSW.

In 2015, Page was awarded an honorary doctorate of Creative Arts by the University of Technology Sydney.

In 2016, Martin Portus (former director of marketing and communication at the Australia Council for the Arts) conducted an interview with Page, who discussed significant periods in the history of the Bangarra Dance Theatre, beginning with the nature of his access to traditional cultures, especially in north-east Arnhem Land.

In the 2017 Queen's Birthday Honours (12 June), Page was appointed Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) "for distinguished service to the performing arts and contemporary dance, through enriching Australia's cultural environment, and by presenting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts to the world".

In 2023 Page was invited to deliver the Andrew Sayers Memorial Lecture at the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra. On 27 April 2023 he gave his address, entitled "Clanship", in which he spoke about cultural connections relating to family, Aboriginal kinship, Aboriginal identity, and relationships with the wider world, including Native American Indians and Canadian First Nations peoples. The lecture was streamed live.

Awards and nominations

Bangarra Dance Theatre has won numerous awards for their performances, including many Helpmann Awards. Page himself has also won several, including Best Choreography in a Ballet, Dance or Physical Theatre Production as well as Best New Australian Work for Bennelong in 2018. Helpmann and other prominent awards are listed below, followed by a list of other personal awards won by Page.

Australian Dance Awards

The Australian Dance Awards recognise excellence and promote dance in Australia. They are awarded under the auspices of the Australian Dance Council (Ausdance) for performance, choreography, design, dance writing, teaching and related professions. (wins only) ! Ref. |- | 1997 | Stephen Page (Artistic Director of Bangarra Dance Theatre) | Outstanding achievement in choreography | | |- | 2010 | Stephen Page | Services to Dance | | |-

Deadly Awards

The Deadly Awards, (commonly known as The Deadlys), was an annual celebration of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander achievement in music, sport, entertainment and community. They ran from 1996 to 2013. (wins only) ! Ref. |- | Deadly Awards 2008 | Stephen Page and Bangarra Dance Theatre | Outstanding Achievement in Entertainment | | |- | Deadly Awards 2009 | Stephen Page and Bangarra Dance Theatre | Achievement in Theatre or Live Performance | | |-

Helpmann Awards

The Helpmann Awards are a series of awards celebrating live entertainment and performing arts in Australia, presented by industry group Live Performance Australia since 2001. Note: 2020 and 2021 were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

! Ref. |- | rowspan="2"| 2001 | rowspan="2"| Stephen Page for Skin (Bangarra Dance Theatre) | Helpmann Award for Best Choreography in a Ballet or Dance Work |

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Helpmann Award for Best New Australian Work

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Best New Australian Work

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Helpmann Award for Best Original Score

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Stephen Page for Mathinna (Bangarra Dance Theatre)
Best Choreography in a Dance or Physical Theatre Production

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Stephen Page for Fire (Bangarra Dance Theatre)
Best Choreography in a Dance or Physical Theatre Production

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Stephen Page for ID from Belong (Bangarra Dance Theatre)
Best Choreography in a Ballet or Dance Work

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Stephen Page for Patyegarang (Bangarra Dance Theatre)
Best Choreography in a Dance or Physical Theatre Production

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Stephen Page, Bernadette Walong-Sene, Djakapurra Munyarryun for Ochres (Bangarra Dance Theatre)
Best Choreography in a Dance or Physical Theatre Work

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Stephen Page
JC Williamson Award

| |- | rowspan="1"| 2018 | Stephen Page for Bennelong (Bangarra Dance Theatre) | Best New Australian Work | | rowspan="1"| |}

NAIDOC Awards

The NAIDOC Awards are annual Australian awards conferred on Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individuals during the national celebration of the history, culture and achievements of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples known as NAIDOC Week. (The name is derived from National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee.) (wins only) ! Ref. |- | 2012 | Stephen Page | Artist of the Year | | |- | 2016 | Stephen Page | Lifetime achievement award | | |-

Other awards

Page was also the recipient of many other awards, including:

1993: Mo Award for Dance Performance of the Year
1993: Paris Opera Screen Award, Grand Prix for Black River (film)
2002: Matilda Award for Contribution to the Arts in Queensland
2003: Sidney Myer Performing Arts Award, Individual Award
2004: Sidney Myer Performing Arts Award, Individual Indigenous Award
2017: Australia Council Dance Award
2022: Red Ochre Award
2022: Inaugural Wendy Blacklock Industry Legend Award, presented by PAC Australia
2022: Global Sydney Award

Footnotes

References

(3 July 2017). "Awardees of Australian Honours for participation in or support to music, Queen's Birthday list, 2017". Music Trust.
Marlow, Karina. (8 July 2016). "NAIDOC 2016: Stephen Page receives Lifetime Achievement Award".
"Stephen Page".
"Stephen Page".
(12 October 2021). "School houses".
Maley, Jacqueline. (24 December 2020). "Bangarra's Stephen Page on pain, politics and pushing boundaries".
(2008). "Page, Stephen (1965-)".
Page, Stephen. (28 July 2015). "Mr Stephen Page: About the speaker, & Speech (by Page)".
"Shining".
"Fish".
"fish, 1997".
"Corroboree".
"Walkabout".
(12 July 2002). "Walkabout, Bangarra Dance Theatre".
"Stepehn Page".
"Clan".
(2010). "BANGARRA DANCE THEATRE: Education Kit 2010".
"Gathering".
"Kin".
Lawson, Valerie. (30 September 2008). "Ballet brings Aboriginal 'Rites' to Paris".
(30 September 2008). "Aboriginal ballet hits Paris stage".
"TRUE STORIES".
(20 February 2024). "True Stories".
{{youtube. 0u-LTEgZJLQ. Bangarra Dance Theatre: True Stories (2007)
(10 December 2019). "Stephen Page".
"Dark Emu".
Russell, Stephen A. (9 June 2021). "Bangarra's Stephen Page opens his heart about creating new show 'SandSong'".
Jefferson, Dee. (2 December 2021). "Stephen Page to step down from Bangarra artistic director role, passing torch to Frances Rings". [[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]].
Cathcart, Michael. (7 December 2021). "Elaine Crombie will calm you down before she punches you in the guts".
(12 September 2022). "Global Sydney: Bangarra's Stephen Page celebrated for taking Indigenous culture to the world".
"The Opening Ceremony of the 2000 Summer Olympics".
Page, Stephen. (21 August 2009). "On the couch with Stephen Page".
(2 December 2006). "Media Centre".
(18 March 2007). "'Our Bridge' cap for 75th Anniversary of Sydney Harbour Bridge".
(7 August 2007). "Orfeo ed Euridice, Victorian Opera, 07".
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"Waru – journey of the small turtle".
"Baleen Moondjan".
Routley, Nicholas. (4 March 2024). "Baleen Moondjan and Guuranda".
Keen, Suzie. (29 February 2024). "Adelaide Festival review: Baleen Moondjan".
Marsh, Walter. (1 March 2024). "Adelaide festival 2024: giant whalebones pierce the sunset for ‘transformative’ opening night".
"Page 8".
"Stephen Page".
(11 September 2015). "Spear Review". [[Variety (magazine).
(23 August 2023). "Hunter Page talks about his journey as an actor and Bangarra's first dedicated work for children.".
(13 May 2014). "Actor Hunter Page-Lochard reared backstage with Bangarra and takes next step at Belvoir". [[The Sydney Morning Herald]].
(14 March 2015). "Hunter Page-Lochard: the Greeks can teach us a thing or two about family". The Guardian.
(30 May 2023). ""Who Do You Think You Are?" Stephen Page (TV Episode 2023)".
Page, Stephen. (15 November 2023). "The Good Enough Dad with Stephen Page – 'Being raised by women made me a great dad'".
"Mr Stephen George PAGE: Centenary Medal". [[Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (Australia)]].
"Stephen Page".
Page, Stephen. (24 February 2016). "Stephen Page".
"Mr Stephen George PAGE: Officer of the Order of Australia". [[Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (Australia)]].
(27 April 2023). "Andrew Sayers Memorial Lecture – Clanship".
(17 July 2018). "Bangarra scoops the pool at the Helpmann Awards".
"Winners of the 2010 Australian Dance Awards".
[http://www.australianstage.com.au/201006213614/news/industry-news/2010-australian-dance-awards-winners-announced.html 2010 Australian Dance Award Winners Announced, ''Australian Stage'', Monday, 21 June 2010 10:14]
Dunn, Emily. (2008-10-10). "Deadly Lot of Awards for Yunupingu". The Sydney Morning Herald.
"Events & Programs".
"2001 Helpmann Awards Nominees & Winners". Australian Entertainment Industry Association (AEIA).
"2002 Helpmann Awards Nominees & Winners". Australian Entertainment Industry Association (AEIA).
"2003 Helpmann Awards Nominees & Winners". Australian Entertainment Industry Association (AEIA).
"2004 Helpmann Awards Nominees & Winners". Australian Entertainment Industry Association (AEIA).
"2008 Helpmann Awards Nominees & Winners". Australian Entertainment Industry Association (AEIA).
"2010 Helpmann Awards Nominees & Winners". Australian Entertainment Industry Association (AEIA).
"2012 Helpmann Awards Nominees & Winners". Australian Entertainment Industry Association (AEIA).
"2015 Helpmann Awards Nominees & Winners". Australian Entertainment Industry Association (AEIA).
"2016 Helpmann Awards Nominees & Winners". Australian Entertainment Industry Association (AEIA).
"2018 Helpmann Awards Nominees & Winners". Australian Entertainment Industry Association (AEIA).
"NAIDOC Awards". Australian Government.
(8 July 2016). "First Indigenous nurse graduate among winners at the 2016 NAIDOC awards".
(9 July 2016). "Indigenous dancer and director wins lifetime achievement award". Sydney Morning Herald.
(8 July 2016). "First Indigenous nurse graduate among winners at the 2016 NAIDOC awards".
(9 July 2016). "Indigenous dancer and director wins lifetime achievement award". [[Sydney Morning Herald]].
"MO Award Winners".
(8 August 2022). "Impact Awards".

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