ENTERTAINMENT PLUS
Using performance to pass down generations of knowledge
WORDS KATE WEBSTER
ENTERTAINMENT PLUS
Using performance to pass down generations of knowledge
WORDS KATE WEBSTER
The Spirits of the Red Sand performance is a cultural awakening.
Performance plays a much more significant role in the lives of Aboriginal peoples than pure entertainment.
If you can’t imagine life before Google, think for a moment about Australia’s First Nations peoples; a collective of hundreds of distinctive clans with as many languages and dialects, who have thrived for thousands of years without the written word. Instead, they have relied upon Songlines – a complex system that weaves vital knowledge into stories, dance and song, to hold and retrieve the information needed to survive. Information like when it is the right time to hunt certain animals, or how to navigate thousands of kilometres across Country by day or night, or where to find water.
Pamagirri dancers showcase their storytelling skills.
The Songlines are often linked to specific locations to make it easier for Aboriginal people to recall the vast amount of knowledge that needs to be memorises in an oral tradition. Repeated performances of the Songlines helps reinforce the knowledge as well as pass it on. Just knowing there are so many layers to an Aboriginal performance adds another dimension to the experience of sitting by a campfire, watching Pamagirri Aboriginal Experience dancers perform Ngukum — the Mosquito Dance.
Take part in a cultural experience with the Pamagirri dancers.
rainforest amphitheatre
The dancers’ depiction of hunters in the mangroves using tree branches to keep the mosquitos at bay is mesmerising. Dancers often harness their Totem to tell a story. A Totem, or spiritual emblem, is an inherited symbol taken from nature, and is often an animal species. Totems define people's roles and responsibilities, and their relationships with each other and to Creation itself. During a performance, dancers can morph their bodies into Totems including strutting emus, bouncing kangaroos and slithering snakes. The Pamagirri dancers use the movements and noise of wildlife as an accompaniment to the haunting sounds of the didgeridoo and clapsticks reverberating around the rainforest amphitheatre that is Rainforestation Nature Park.
Listen to the haunting sounds of the didgeridoo.
The night setting adds to the Flames of the Forest experience.
Listen to the haunting sounds of the digeridoo.
The night setting adds to the Flames of the Forest experience.
Whilst not universally played, the digeridoo is one of the most iconic Aboriginal instruments and it features heavily during the spectacular dining experience, Flames of the Forest. This intimate experience had me feasting on a four-course gourmet dinner under the candle-lit canopy of the Daintree Rainforest, near Port Douglas in Queensland’s Tropical North. I found myself immersed in nature during the experience, which is presented by two local Indigenous brothers on the traditional grounds of the Kuku Yalanji people. As the courses of the meal progressed, so did my connection with our country’s First Nations peoples through the storytelling, dance and song. The natural, authentic backdrop providing a fitting stage that transported me on a spiritual and mystical journey as the vibrant sound of the didgeridoo set my senses alight.
Be prepared for an emotional performance.
Contemporary performance
Whilst the Songlines have helped Aboriginal cultures thrive for this long, they have also been aided in this by their ability to adapt, and the ease with which they have co-opted contemporary theatre for storytelling is a great example of this. At Beenleigh Historical Village, in a Queensland town halfway between Brisbane and the Gold Coast, I am greeted by Muzza, who places a carpet snake called Noodle, in my hands. Muzza tells me that the carpet snake is the Totem of the Nunukul Yuggera people, who are the dancers in the Spirits of the Red Sand performance. Before removing Noodle from my arm and showing me to my first seat for the night, Muzza also warns me to be prepared for this night-time performance to stir all types of emotions.
The mix of traditional and contemporary performance is potent.
The powerful story is based on true events.
Spirits of the Red Sand is a roaming theatrical performance that unfolds over different locations throughout the village. Audience members move to different settings as the story progresses — sitting on pews in an Anglican Church, on log seats outside a general store, on stools beside a bonfire, and more. Based on true events, the story takes us back to the turn of the century when the British and Aboriginal ways of life collide. The performance follows the lives of three Aboriginal brothers and their struggles with the arrival of the new people, its impact on their own culture and traditions and the choices they must make to hold onto their beliefs. The performance is captivating and, at times, confronting as we are drawn into the lives of Jarrah and his mob and learn of their often brutal treatment by the early white settlers. The tale is not a happy one and I find Muzza’s warning rings true as my emotions go on a journey as the performance progresses. Echoing the Mosquito Dance, this contemporary piece of theatre is proving to be an effective tool in passing down cultural knowledge and providing us all with an opportunity to understand and learn from the past.
Willie Enoch-Tranby, a dancer with the Pamagirri Aboriginal Experience since the age of 13 says:
"In our yarning circle, people can ask questions without judgement. Our fellas get to talk about their clan, their great grandparents born in the bush, their Dreamtime, tribal law or their language. It’s a quiet place to share culture. It’s the same way our people sit around the fire, listening and learning."
Let’s dance
No matter where you are in Australia – the city or rainforest, coast or desert – you can enjoy performances that range from one-off experiences to a weekend retreat, like that offered by Ngaran Ngaran Culture Awareness in Narooma, New South Wales.
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