Outback Facts: Music & Dance
Song and dance pervade every aspect of daily life for indigenous Australians. These art forms traditionally close the gap between space and time, providing a door to the Dreaming. Songlines, also known as Dreaming tracks, follow the journey of the spirit ancestors during the Dreaming and act as musical maps of a particular area's landscape. A singer can describe the country through the rhythm of a song, which changes to describe hills or lakes and rivers. The beat of the song will tell the knowledgeable listener what is in the land. Such songs are inherited and carry important social obligations from the song's owner. Other songs are performed within specific day-to-day contexts providing a vital connection with the spirit world, such as during childbirth or mourning, to direct a soul to its destination. Songs are also thought of as ‘medicine’, as they can be healing. They can be used to bring rain, stop floods or change the direction of the wind.
Indigenous musical instruments are usually made from natural resources. Instruments, such as specially shaped clapsticks or message sticks, are made from selected woods, shells and stones. The Yirkala Mirning community (a coastal tribe from the Nullarbor Plain) creates a variety of tones by hitting together ‘gong stones’ of different shapes and sizes, gathered from the caves and cliff faces around the Great Australian Bight. This music communicates with the Southern Right and sperm whales, calling them into the bight.
The haunting resonance of the didgeridoo is perhaps the most iconic sound of Aboriginal music. The didg originated in Arnhem Land, at the top end of the Northern Territory, and its Yolngu name is yidaki. Didgeridoos are made from particular eucalypt branches that have been hollowed out by termites. They are cut down to a metre or so in length and then carved to fit in the palm of your hand. They are then fitted with a wax mouthpiece made from sugarbag (native honeybee wax) and decorated with traditional designs.
The main instrument of the Torres Strait Islands is a skin-covered drum, which is held in one hand while the palm of the other hand is used to create a deep rhythmic pounding sound that echoes hypnotically. The kulup is an instrument made of black seeds tied together with a special twine from the islands to imitate the sound of shells being shaken.
Music and songs accompany dancing, a physical and spiritual expression of indigenous norms, religion and stories, and an essential part of ceremonies. A dance performance will tell a story of the Dreaming, an ancestor spirit or the passing down of a law. In keeping with animist traditions, many dancers imitate the movements and sounds of the spirit ancestor's animal form. Dancers often decorate their bodies with paint, with particular designs distinguishing social standing. Dance styles vary across regions and tribes.
Dance is a communal event in which every member of the tribe participates. Sacred initiation ceremonies for young boys and girls are great communal celebrations of singing, dancing and music. Other dances are gender based, such as fertility rituals for women, when members of the opposite sex do not see each other's performances. Dancing is also part of death rituals.
Contemporary indigenous dance combines traditional and Western dance styles and draws on traditional and contemporary themes in movement, stories, costume and body art, fusing music and song. This unique blend of dance can be seen in performances by various troupes, including the Bangarra Dance Theatre, Australia's premier indigenous dance company. Credited with international and Olympic performances, Bangarra has collaborated with the Australian Ballet in Rites, an acclaimed work blending two different cultural expressions in movement.
