Stephen Page AO (b. 1965), Nunukul dancer and choreographer, has been artistic director of Bangarra Dance Theatre since 1991. Page moved to Sydney from Brisbane in the early 1980s to study dance at the National Aboriginal and Islander Skills Development Association, and performed with the Sydney Dance Company from 1983 to 1991. He and his brothers Russell (1968–2002) and David (1961–2016) joined the Bangarra Dance Theatre in the early 1990s – as artistic director, principal dancer and resident composer respectively. Stephen has since created many highly acclaimed ballets for Bangarra including Fish (1997), Walkabout (2002), Patyegarang (2014), Lore (2015) and Dark Emu (2018). For Bennelong (2018) he received three Helpmann Awards; he also won Helpmann Awards for Skin (2001), Corroboree (2002), Mathinna (2009), Fire (2010) and ID (2012). In addition, he has choreographed works for Opera Australia and the Sydney Theatre Company. For The Australian Ballet, Page choreographed Alchemy (1996) and Totem (2002), a solo for dancer Stephen Heathcote. His ballets Rites (1997) and Gathering (2006) were collaborations between Bangarra and The Australian Ballet. Page's first feature length film Spear (2015) premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and he choreographed the films Bran Nue Dae (2009) and The Sapphires (2011). Made an Officer of the Order of Australia in the Queen's Birthday awards of 2017, Stephen Page spoke of his 'mixed feelings', but after talking with his Elders he decided to 'just respect it and take it in [his] stride, and just think about all those ancestors and people that have led before'.
