Since its world premiere in Sydney earlier this year, Australian Dance Theatre’s Tracker has toured to Adelaide, Perth, Melbourne and Brisbane. Now, it will return to ADT’s home state of South Australia for a series of performances, Oct 25-Nov 9. But this time in a South Australian exclusive, choreographer and ADT Artistic Director Daniel Riley will join the cast he has guided onstage for the very first time, joining the ensemble to tell this intensely personal family story, himself. He will be performing as the third dancer alongside Rika Hamaguchi and Kaine Sultan- Babij.
Tracker tells the true story of Tracker Riley, who in the first half of the 20th century became the State’s first Indigenous police sergeant, used his unique cultural knowledge and instinct to investigate murders, capture offenders and find missing people around Dubbo in central NSW. As an Elder of his community Tracker Riley also forged a path between the enforced colonial system and his Wiradjuri lore. According to Daniel Riley,
“People coming to watch Tracker may know only a little about him but hopefully they will leave the performance with a greater understanding of the moral, ethical and cultural issues that existed back then and despite the passage of time, are still so present for First Nations people in 2023.”
Tracker will be performed at ADT’s home at The Odeon, Norwood (Oct 25-27) before touring across the state with the support of Country Arts SA, visiting regional locations Mount Gambier (Oct 31), Renmark (Nov 3) and Whyalla (Nov 9). ADT Artistic Director, Daniel Riley says,
“To bring Uncle Alec's story back to The Odeon is very special and exciting. We had such an incredible amount of positive response and support from our successful Adelaide Festival season earlier this year, that when the opportunity came up to perform at home before we head out on the road to connect with the communities of Regional South Australia, we just had to do it.
“The work has expanded and evolved over the more than 30 shows in Sydney, Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne this year. While it's important to be seen in our capital cities, it's also critical to everyone at ADT that we share the work we make on Kaurna Yerta across the state, this year travelling to perform in Mt Gambier, Renmark, and Whyalla.”
https://www.countryarts.org.au/events/tracker/