Aboriginal dancers find a new stage<\/p>\n
By Peter Kerr<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Arriving in Jakarta this week wide-eyed on their
\nfirst trip outside Australia were young members of an Aboriginal
\nand Torres Strait Islander dance group who will feature at JakArt
\n2001.<\/p>\n
Looking out over the lush rice fields and fish ponds around
\nSoekarno-Hatta International Airport, dancers from the Torres
\nStrait islands north of Australia were reminded of home.<\/p>\n
But those who grew up in Australia's desert communities also
\nsensed a familiarity with the simple wooden houses, kampongs and
\nchildren playing along the route into the city.<\/p>\n
JakArt will be an enriching experience for the eight senior
\nstudents from NAISDA College in Sydney. None have been to
\nIndonesia before, and six have never traveled outside Australia.<\/p>\n
As well as communicating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
\nculture to Indonesian audiences, the group hopes to learn aspects
\nof Indonesian dance for use in its own choreography.<\/p>\n
NAISDA, or the National Aboriginal and Islander Skills
\nDevelopment Association, has for 25 years been training young
\nindigenous Australians in dance and performing arts.<\/p>\n
One of its success stories has been the internationally
\nrenowned Bangarra Dance Company, while a NAISDA graduate
\nchoreographed the indigenous sections of last year's Olympic
\nopening and closing ceremonies.<\/p>\n
NAISDA general manager Robert Jackson, who is supervising the
\nJakArt tour, said most indigenous Australians would have no such
\nopportunities without the college.<\/p>\n
They were simply not eligible to be accepted into, for
\nexample, the Australian Ballet School. "They just don't fit the
\ncriteria, and yet by the time they graduate they're qualified
\nenough to be accepted into that," Jackson said.<\/p>\n
This struggle for a place and recognition in Australia's
\nwhite-dominated society was part of what the group hoped to
\nconvey to Indonesian audiences, he said.<\/p>\n
Jackson, who has traveled previously to Sumatra and Bali, said
\nthere was a "degree of similarity" between the way Aborigines and
\nIndonesians were both striving to maintain traditional cultures
\nin the face of modern "progress".<\/p>\n
"I think that what will happen is that the Indonesian people
\nand the other visitors to the performances will appreciate what
\nwe are doing and what we are trying to achieve," he said.<\/p>\n
Tourism and big events like the Olympics were an excellent
\nshowcase for indigenous viewpoints, Jackson said, and helped
\nencourage acceptance within Australia's multicultural system.<\/p>\n
"But really what happens when we come on smaller trips like
\nthis to overseas countries, ordinary people can get to understand
\nwhat we're about as well.<\/p>\n
"Too often a lot of the information (about Aborigines) is
\nsanitized, I guess, in how it gets out to ordinary people.<\/p>\n
"It's only by us coming to places like this ... that we're
\nable to tell other people about what we're actually trying to do
\nand how we're doing it -- how we're trying to maintain our
\nculture against the advent of 'progress'."<\/p>\n
Jackson said the group hoped to hold workshops in high schools
\nand communities outside Jakarta, where the "kids" from NAISDA
\n(aged in their early 20s) could also learn more about Indonesian
\nculture.<\/p>\n
"It would be fabulous if we could go back with the knowledge
\nof a couple of Indonesian dances, not with any perfection, but to
\nhave an understanding of how the movements are made up," he said.<\/p>\n
"You see, it all adds to the knowledge bank of the
\nchoreography, and this is one of the things we try to develop
\nwithin the college.<\/p>\n
NAISDA's tour here, which also brings principal dance teacher
\nPaul Saliba and contemporary indigenous teacher Gary Lang, has
\nbeen funded by the Australia-Indonesia Institute.<\/p>\n
NAISDA will perform at the festival's opening ceremony at the
\nNational Museum on Thursday at 7 p.m.<\/p>\n
It has three other scheduled shows: An outdoor performance at
\nPanggung Terbuka Amerta in Bogor at 1 p.m. on Sunday, and
\nworkshops at the Institut Kesenian Jakarta, Central Jakarta, on
\nTuesday at 10 a.m., and at Namarina Studio in Kebayoran Baru,
\nSouth Jakarta, on Wednesday at 5:30pm.<\/p>\n
Four other Australian artists or groups are taking part in
\nJakArt.<\/p>\n
Mike Nock is a New Zealand-born jazz pianist and composer who
\nhas lived for many years in Sydney while also touring and
\nrecording extensively in the United States.<\/p>\n
Nova Ensemble, from West Australia, is joining with members of
\nBandung-based Warogus for a series of performances, with well-
\nknown percussion specialist Ron Reeves being the common member of
\nboth groups.<\/p>\n
Other Australian participants are Rachmadi Fiedorowicz, a
\npainter and visual artist who uses sheets of glass as a medium,
\nand solo guitarist Mira'nda.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/aboriginal-dancers-find-a-new-stage-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}