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Russell Page (1968–2002), choreographer, dancer and actor, was from the Nunukul (Noonuccal) people and the Munaldjali clan of the Yugambeh people of south-east Queensland. Formerly a talented rugby league player, at sixteen he moved to Sydney to study at the Aboriginal and Islander Dance Theatre. Overcoming his initial rebellion at the discipline of dance, he quickly became 'pure spirit' in performance, equally breathtaking as an earth-bound or aerial dancer. With brothers Stephen, an artistic director, and David, a composer, he co-founded the Bangarra Dance Theatre, and was its principal artist from 1991. He also appeared on film and television, including a role in Tracey Moffatt's Bedevil. The Bangarra production Walkabout received ecstatic reviews from critics, with Russell's solo singled out for special praise. He died in July 2002, leaving his family, his three children, and Australian art, dance and Aboriginal communities mourning an irreplaceable loss.
Moffatt took this photograph when Page was with the Aboriginal and Islander Dance Theatre in Sydney. The image shows his intense physicality and natural grace. It is part of a series of five black-and-white photographs depicting Russell and his brother Stephen, Some Lads, which featured in the NADOC 86 Exhibition of Aboriginal and Islander Photographers.
Gift of the artist 1998. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
© Tracey Moffatt
Courtesy of the artist and Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney.
Tracey Moffatt AO (2 portraits)
On one level The Companion talks about the most famous and frontline Australians, but on another it tells us about ourselves: who we read, who we watch, who we listen to, who we cheer for, who we aspire to be, and who we'll never forget. The Companion is available to buy online and in the Portrait Gallery Store.
Despite once expressing a limited interest in the self portrait, the idea of it has figured strongly in much of Tracey Moffatt's work and has done so in some of her most distinctive and compelling images.
In her self-portrait, Tracey Moffatt presents herself as her work.