Australia’s üBERgroove
uBERgroover July 2nd. 2008, 5:02pmDoes Australia have dances representing its modern culture? To put this into context, Greeks have regional folk dances and Latinos have everything from the salsa to the tango. What do Aussies have? The sprinkler and the drongo? Oh that’s right, whenever we feel inclined to bond with our dance-floor neighbours, we chuck on the Nutbush and the Macarena, usually in succession, just to keep the group spirit flowing.
Granted, we’re a young culture. But we do have a diverse selection of ethnic cultures here that have something to teach us. Plus we have a few trademark moves of our own, like the sprinkler which can easily be incorporated into a group dance. So to answer this question, we reckon Australia does not have dances representing the diversity and richness of its modern culture, but that it is possible to create some…or at least one. This warrants in-depth exploration and is the premise of the show.
On our search to cover dance forms taught in Sydney, we came across numerous traditional dance classes from all around the world. However, a quick search for classes in Australian indigenous dance revealed no results! We have a rich indigenous heritage, yet we can’t actually learn any of the indigenous dances, because they’re sacred and can’t be performed without permission because we’re not part of that culture. Without intending any disrespect, is this doing the indigenous culture a disservice? Is it keeping them too isolated from the rest of the Australian cultures? I can’t help but feel that if we were allowed to immerse ourselves in indigenous dance, our sense of how we express ourselves as modern Australians would be far more inspired.
We do not propose to create Australia’s ultimate “üBERgroove” in the first series of üBERgroover.tv. What we propose, on a pseudo-technical level, is to collect a whole series of established and improvised dance moves based on our culture, our slang and our environment, including distinct indigenous representations, such as the “emu” or “kangaroo”. We then ask you to decide: should any of these moves be part of Australia’s üBERgrooves?
On a more social level, we would like to initiate a conversation about dance…starting in Australia and radiating towards the rest of the world.
Explore these ideas and start conversations on our forum: uBERgroover.tv/forum
July 5th, 2008 at 5:32 pm
Good on you Tina for opening a discussion that includes popular dance culture and the absence of participatory dance spaces that include indigenous dance. It’s a tricky one, and I reckon you’re right not to mean any ‘disrespect’ here. History shows clearly that ‘white’ Australia’s attempts to assimilate indigenous culture has been marked bu hubris, ignorance and abuse. Currently I’d suggest we often find indigenous cultural form subverted to the values of consumer capitalism, and ‘movements’ whose singly oriented focus are very likely to diregard the needs and sensitivities of Indigenous people themselves. That said I’ve often wondered; if Indigenous Australian’s were willing to share their dance at a popular and participatory level, what impact might this have on Indigenous/non-indigenous relations. On one level I’m inclined to cling to ideas that support the universality of movement, as a medium that inspires joy, health, healing, expression and communication. On another level the spiritual and ritual contexts that Indigenous dance forms take, subjected to ‘uber’ settings are likely to loose something in their translation. Then again we might say that dance has it’s own kinetic field, and that field will find it’s own reverberative feet no matter what cultural setting we give it. Like I said it’s a tricky one.
I think it’s relevant to concede that most dance forms, even those we might view as ‘folk’ or ‘traditional’ originate through fluid processes. Their development has been the inspiration of migrational, diaspora, and nomadic flows, of slave and convict ‘imports’ that can reach into histories beyond recorded knowledge. Given that prior to colonisation Australia itself was broken into something like 600 nations, whose borders saw exchanges and influences between different groups with different customs, traditions, laws and languages, we might say that Indigenous Australian Dance similarly finds its evolution includes processes of hybridisation and cross-cultural exchange. BUT, the question this whitey asks is, ‘Who the hell am I to EXPECT Australia’s Indigenous to invite me into some of the more intimate aspects of their culture?’ That expectation needs to earned, and given the givens of relations in the last 200 years, the dominant ‘we’ of anglo-european Australia cannot expect to be granted access here.
This is dissapointing. I suspect non-indigenous Ozes might benefit from movements and rhythms whose mimetic qualities foster an Indigenous world view. My own experience of African Dance here, despite being largely confined to the studio space finds the action of my bare-feet, my earthed centre of gravity, my open chest and smiling face raised finally in an open palmed greeting to the sky, laves me in little doubt as to the spirit of the culture behind the dance. How cool for us ozes if we were able to enjoin in movement that resonates a cosmology, a being with and through time, a relation to this country’s earth, its rocks, trees, animals, rivers, spirits, ancestors and its traditional custodians. Is it possible that this might encourage respect and connection that brings us to a better understanding of what Indigenous Culture has been about, how we have NOT known it, or the peoples that fostered it, and how we might go about changing that?!? Perhaps this sounds a bit grand, perhaps my thoughts reflect degrees of ignorance. But I prefer to be idealistic here, because the other option is not OK with me.
On a practical level how we go about getting that process happening is not clear. As with many non-indigenous ozes I’m pretty nervous about taking actions or expressing sentiments that are ‘politically incorrect’ here. Like Tina I’m not wishing to mean no disrespect please, but i’m also nearly done with sitting on the fence-just in case. I would be interested to know how dance practitioners of other indigenous and traditional forms feel about teaching the descendants of their colonisers. Maybe they prefer to take their Dance over-seas, so that once the brief change of exchange has lapsed they don’t have to face the god-awful realities of their own communities devastation at the hands of European invasion.
Like I said though I’m idealistic, I’m also a 4th generation orstraylean who hopes that we might come to a place where we co-exist mindfully and happily with the Indigenous peoples of this country we share. I reckon that if and or when Australia’s indigenous choose to share their dance with us, is up to them. If we need to get permission for a time to come then that’s their call and we need to honor that. Our best bet is to keep the doors of encouragement and facilitation open where we can. Times change, culture changes, people change, there’s no getting away from this. The fabulous version of Zorba performed by the aboriginal boys from up north, the Chooky Dancers, and the popular sprit of enthusiasm with which it was received might indicate that changes are a-foot. Somehow it seems to me if the children of the current custodians are prepared to embrace something like reggae-a ‘once was’ devotional form with its roots in Ethiopia that travelled to Jamaica to finally find itself popularised my the likes of BOB, then perhaps they will be willing in time to contribute to the inevitable processes of cross cultural exchange.
If like me you fall into the category of thinking that seeks to get this ball rolling, my suggestions would be to get to the Dreaming Festival in QLD next year. It’s a great arena for ‘regular’ indigenous and non-indigenous Australians to dialogue. Give Black Chat on Koorie Radio a dial and get a conversation going. Get a bit of education on board: What do you know about Aboriginal culture and the history of indigenous/non-indigenous relations?
…you could also join in this blog, or ask your indigenous friends to?!?
(hope i didn’t go on too much here) Paula
October 29th, 2008 at 4:11 am
This is great info to know.