ONE of Canberra’s proudest exports, dancer-choreographer Daniel Riley, is about to make his mark with his first full-length work for the Adelaide-based Australian Dance Theatre.

Riley, who can claim the title of the first indigenous director of a mainstream dance company in this country, will soon be here with his new work, “Savage”. 

It’s a provocative title for a provocative work and Riley is inclined to turn it back on me and to find out what I think it means. 

When I suggest there’s a touch of bitter irony in the title, he responds: “If that’s the way you see it, I’m happy to say the word out loud – I’m taking the power back through the word.

“I understand the connotations of that word; my ancestors had to live with it, we were labelled that, but who were the savages? Maybe those who stole the culture and the land.”

“If you want to know what it means, you need to ask what First Nations people think, what are the truths of our founding myths about power and identity and who holds the power.

“The greatest of all myths was terra nullius because it was a lie, this nation was founded on a lie and it has never been properly addressed.”

That’s where “Savage” comes in.

“I am the first First Nations person to be a mainstream director of a dance company, so I have the platform to ask those questions and I feel enabled by it.

“This is a full-length work of approximately 60 minutes that exposes myth and identity in an abstract way.”

Riley’s been working with dramaturg Kate Champion on the structure of the piece and with composer James Howard (Jaadwa) using his original music, but it’s early days. 

All the while he and his family are still getting to know Adelaide. 

“It’s beautiful, my family are very happy here and it reminds us of Canberra a bit… Adelaide is an incredibly vibrant city artistically and in its First Nations community, the Kaurna people of the Adelaide Plains.” 

Riley knows that the Kaurna have been at the centre of restitution of language, but no more so than his own, the Wiradjuri people of western NSW, whose language he is now learning. 

Although his heritage is in the Dubbo-Wellington area, he grew up in Canberra, studying at Telopea Park High School, Canberra College and QL2 Dance, before going on to tertiary dance studies at QUT, then to fame as an artist with Bangarra Dance Theatre and later as a freelance independent artist.

But it is notable that he has returned whenever possible to Canberra to work as a choreographer for QL2 projects, most recently in January 2021.

By no coincidence at all, his long-time mentor has been Elizabeth Cameron Dalman, who founded the ADT in 1965, but who now lives at Mirramu, Bungendore.

Dalman says: “He is a wonderful performer, a talented choreographer and already has a great vision for the company. I worked with Daniel’s father on a dance work in regional NSW in the ’90s. He told me that his son, Daniel, who was 12 at the time, was wanting to learn to dance. So, I suggested that Daniel apply to go to QL2.”

“Elizabeth and I speak often,” Riley says. “We are constantly emailing backward and forward. I’m looking forward to seeing her at my show and will probably get to spend some time with her afterwards, because it’s not travelling anywhere else this year.”

In Canberra, about nine Quantum Leap dancers will join the ADT ensemble, including Riley. 

As for his new job, Riley says: “Every day is an adventure, every day it’s different finding out where I need to be, making sure I’m doing things properly and planning the administrative work – there is no degree in being an artistic director.”

“Savage”, Canberra Theatre, September 29-30.