After lauded seasons at every major Australian festival throughout 2023 where it was hailed as "the type of theatre that simply must be experienced” by Time Out Melbourne, Tracker heads back to the place from which it came with a special season at on Wiradjuri Country at the Dubbo Regional Theatre and Convention Centre (‘DRTCC’) in October.
Tracker tells the story of Australian Dance Theatre’s Artistic Director Daniel Riley’s Great-Great Uncle Alec ‘Tracker’ Riley, an Elder from Dubbo who served on the New South Wales police force as a tracker for 40 years. Weaving together text, movement and live music, the work examines the complex path Alec forged between the enforced colonial system in which he worked and his Wiradjuri lore, reckoning with the complexities of his legacy and how they ripple into modern Australia.
Presented by Australian Dance Theatre in association with ILBIJERRI Theatre Company, Tracker is the first Blak led, self-determined First Nations work in the company’s history. This upcoming season will be the first time the work has toured to Wiradjuri Country, connecting this story to the Country where Uncle Alec lived and worked, and the community and stories in which connect him and Daniel
“A connection to place is incredibly important in my work,” says Australian Dance Theatre’s Artistic Director Daniel Riley, “and Wiradjuri Country is at the core of Tracker. To take the work back to community, to the Elders and the Aunties who shared stories, and those who connect Uncle Alec and I is going to be incredibly special.”
Tracker bridges the gaps between dance and theatre, inviting audiences into a ceremonial space through which they can engage with the work, which blends the personal and political to create a complex portrait of the ongoing resilience of First Nations people in this country.
Working alongside Riley are an all-First Nations team including Co-Director Rachael Maza AM, writers Usrula Yovich and Amy Sole, Composer James Henry, Designer Jonathon Jones, and Lighting Designer Chloe Ogilvie. Tracker was also made with Elders Aunty Shirley Matthews and Aunty Ann Cribb alongside Wiradjuri Language Translator Aunty Dianne Riley McNaboe. The 2024 season will feature performers Tyrel Dulvarie, Rika Hamaguchi, Kaine Sultan-Babij and Ari Maza-Long.
Tracker will perform for one night only on Friday 4 October at DRTCC and will coincide with a suite of events and programs that will see the company engage with the community on Country.
“Being a local Wiradjuri woman, it is an honour to be presenting this work, a local story with heart!” says Tiffany Rowland, DRTCC’s Performing Arts and Venues Coordinator, “It is a great privilege to be connected to the history and a part of the future of storytelling - this is one not to be missed! Tracker is coming home!”
As part of the community engagement program, the Theatre is hosting a free dance workshop for First Nations and local dance school students facilitated by ADT company dancers, which still has some spaces available.
“It’s incredibly rare for work at the scale of Tracker to be made and so warmly supported in Australia,” says Riley, “let alone for it to have such a long life. I’m incredibly heartened by the response to Tracker, and to all the people who have stepped into the space so generously, to celebrate Uncle Alec and tell a true story so courageously. For this work to go home, back to country, is even rarer. To carry this story back to Dubbo, to work with and connect to the community there is a real privilege.
“I can’t wait to get back and walk on Country.”
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