Some lads I (Russell Page)

Russell Page (1968–2002), choreographer, dancer and actor, was from the Nunukl (Noonuccal) people and the Munaldjali clan of the Yugambeh people of south-east Queensland. As a young man, Page was a brilliant rugby league player, but shifted his focus to dancing, training at the National Aboriginal Islander Skills Development Association College before touring with the One Extra Dance Company. Founder and principal artist of the Bangarra Dance Theatre from 1991, he represented Australia at the 1997 Venice Biennale and appeared in the opening and closing ceremonies of the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000. Among his many screen and television appearances was a role in Bedevil, directed by film-maker and photographer Tracey Moffatt. His last performance was in the Bangarra production Walkabout, directed by his brother, Stephen (another brother, David, was an acclaimed musician). Page took his own life at the age of 34, plunging his own large family and the broader Australian arts community into mourning.
Tracey Moffatt took this photograph when Page was with the Aboriginal and Islander Dance Theatre in Sydney. It is part of the series Some Lads, depicting male performance students from the company.