He said the ambition and scale of the work were such that the Indigenous contemporary dance company had to build up its strength to be able to present this tribute to the life and legacy of Bennelong, the most heavily documented of Indigenous men in his era and someone whose life still resonates today.

Working with colleagues including dramaturg Alana Valentine and composer Steve Francis, Page created a work about Wongal man Woollarawarre Bennelong who in 1789 was captured on the orders of Governor Arthur Phillip and would be given a house on Bennelong Point, away from his own country and people. He would sail to Britain in 1792, returning in 1795, living uneasily between the two worlds of Indigenous people and Europeans before he died in 1813.

Page called him the "first experiment" by Phillip and said his story retained a power and relevancy for contemporary Australians, many of whom were unfamiliar with it.

"They don't want to own their history; they don't want to own the guilt."

It had a sellout season in Sydney and Page said Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and his wife Lucy came backstage after one performance. The dancers weren't sure how the meeting would go, Page said, but it turned out well. He said they were impressed by the impact of Bennelong and the way it was told and stayed talking to the dancers.

"Lucy is a great advocate for the arts," Page said, adding that Turnbull was a good storyteller, talking about Sydney Harbour and how it stayed the same while much around it changed and the significance of Bangarra, now in its 28th year.

Page was conscious himself of the significance of the company, approaching its 30th anniversary not only as a well-established dance company in Australia, but as an Indigenous one when no equivalent music or theatre company existed. He said reaching 30 years was an important achievement even if wasn't long against 40,000 years of Indigenous civilisation.

Bennelong is on at the Canberra Theatre until Saturday, August 5: canberratheatrecentre.com.au or 6275 2700.