Australia’s Aborigines are said to have the longest continuous cultural history of any group of people on earth. The Sydney-based Bangarra Dance Theatre has become the leading expositor of this treasure trove of indigenous dances, songs and stories, but reinterpreted for contemporary times.

Composed almost exclusively of Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders, Bangarra has since 1991 been run by the choreographer Stephen Page. Created with the former company member Frances Rings, his 2003 production Bush is currently touring the UK as part of Undergrowth. Encompassing theatre, dance, music, literature and visual art, this two-year programme of Australian contemporary arts finishes at the end of 2006.

Derived from traditional dances and creation stories from Arnhem Land, in northern Australia, Bush suggests a decidedly nocturnal dream segmented into ten scenes. Their link is the tribal elder Kathy Balngayngu Marik, a kohl-eyed matriarch whose presence anchors the show.

Marika is onstage at the start when six women crawl out from beneath the low, forested canopy of Peter England’s set. Together they bathe in invisible rainwater, a cleansing ritual that segues into a simple but satisfying folk dance involving tilted postures, short rhythmic steps and wrist rotations.

Half of this 75-minute evening focuses on encounters with some striking totemic fauna. Four fetishistically clad reptilian males slide down from out of the darkness to be given their five senses by Marika. An uneven white tear in the black backdrop coincides with the appearance of a sleek, slithery (and, again, male) snake that the women play with under Marika’s guidance.

The audience seemed absorbed, but the magic began to pall as we were introduced to a caterpillar, moths, some stick-using messengers and, most impoverished of all, a rudimentary female trio meant to celebrate the famous Aboriginal dot paintings. The soundtrack, a progressive fusion of voices and beats by Steve Francis and David Page, also began to grate.

Bangarra’s dozen dancers are earthy and undulant, tumbling over the stage and each other like water over rock. Influenced by the techniques of Martha Graham and Alvin Ailey, they convey moments of rapturous power. But their rolling, floor-hugging movement becomes repetitive and, minus a greater understanding of the show’s cultural context, inexpressive and unilluminating. Bush is an intriguing but murky dream, and not one I always wanted to occupy.

Sept 19-20 at the Lowry, Salford and Sept 23-24 at Snape Maltings, Aldeburgh