Following more than a thousand performances over 15 years, Sidney Saltner, Bangarra’s longest serving dancer, will retire from the company at the end of this year.
Since joining Bangarra in 1997, Sidney has become one of Australia’s most loved dancers, recognised for his extraordinary artistic ability and passion for Indigenous dance.
“Sidney has been a major part of Bangarra's creative journey,” said Bangarra’s artistic director Stephen Page. “In his 15 years with the company he has danced all of thesignificant repertoire. He has those rare qualities of distinctive artistry and character that has led to his being my muse in many of my works. Sidney's knowledge and cultural appreciation of Bangarra is outstanding and he has made a most valuable contribution."
Sidney is from the Wulli Wulli people of central Queensland. Following his graduation from NAISDA, Sidney performed with the Aboriginal Islander Dance Theatre (AIDT) and was eventually appointed assistant artistic director. He joined Bangarra in 1997.
Saltner has been nominated for and won numerous awards. In 2003, Sidney was nominated for Best Male Dancer in both the Australian Dance Awards and the 2003 Deadly Awards. In 2004, he was nominated for a Mo Award for his role in Bangarra’s production of Bush.
Sidney’s last performance with Bangarra was at the Gold Coast Arts Centre on Tuesday 22 November in Mathinna.