A NOT to be missed free local Indigenous performance, Gharigan, is on Saturday 10 September at 5.30pm at the Brunswick Heads Soundshell.
Created by Bunyarra Culture Collective, the dance tells the story of local wetland birds and the breeding cycle of the Gharigan – White Crane.
The Gharigan dance, meet, mate, brood, defend and breed as the story shows the interaction between wetland species.
Byron Shire Council’s Aboriginal projects officer, Belle Arnold, said the performance is set to contemporary music and the dancers beautifully captivate the audience with a story of love and war for survival.
“It’s been a wonderful journey of development for everyone who has been involved,” she said.
The collective was formed when local dance groups from Arakwal and Dhinawan’s Deadly Dancers joined to perform recently at the Sydney Opera House.
“With the enthusiasm our young members, we wanted to keep this journey going and wrote, choreographed and performed Gharigan for the first time this year at Splendour.
“The response and support was overwhelming and we are now delighted to be performing outdoors before our communities,” Ms Arnold enthused.
Bunyarra – it means ‘deadly’ in Bundjalung language
Bunyarra Culture Collective is a local expression of traditional and contemporary Aboriginal dance, music and painting that aims to engage audiences in stories of country and showcase contemporary cultural practice.
Gharigan is told on Bundjalung Country and the dancers with the rest of the Bunyarra Culture Collective, offer their respect and acknowledge the Arakwal, Widjabul and Minjunbal people of the Brunswick Heads catchment and to the people of the wider Bundjalung nation.
Gharigan is a Byron Shire Council managed grant funded project from the Indigenous Language Support Program.