Garrigarrang Badu: the very first performance work in Dharug language
Jannawi Dance Clan’s Garrigarrang Badu is a female-led immersive cultural performance showing as part of The City of Parramatta and Sydney Festival’s Dyin Nura (women’s place) in January 2023.
Directed by Jannawi’s founding Artistic Director Peta Strachan in collaboration with Dharug Elders and Knowledge Holders, Garrigarrang Badu is the first-ever full-length dance work in Dharug language, which invites audiences to bear witness to the strength, resilience, and power of the Dharug Matriarch. Collectively choreographed by Peta Strachan and the dancers of Jannawi Dance Clan. Commissioned by Arts & Cultural Exchange (ACE) as part of ACE’s First Nations residency program.
Jannawi Dance Clan, formed in 2008, are a Sydney based Aboriginal dance company focusing on storytelling through performance encompassing contemporary and traditional dance styles. Jannawi means with me, with you in Dharug language. As a dance collective Jannawi celebrate the strength, resilience and stories of Aboriginal people in NSW. They are committed to honouring, sharing knowledge and encouraging awareness of the world’s oldest living indigenous culture.
“This work startedfrom our need for new compositions in our language,” said Jannawi Dance Clan Artistic Director Peta Strachan. “It has developed into a major dance work and song cycle about Dharug culture, ancient and contemporary, and the beauty of our country where freshwater meets salt water. Learning to sing in Dharug has made our spirits stronger.”
This living archive and dance work will be showcased in two exclusive development showings in January 2023 and will officially premiere in July 2023.
The first public development presentation of Garrigarrang Badu has been announced as a headliner at The City of Parramatta and Sydney Festival’s Dyin Nura (women’s place), a celebration of the women in the Dharug community. In July 2023, Garrigarang Badu will premiere at Carriageworks’ international First Nations Dance Fest Darunga Nura.
The song cycle has been written and composed by songman Mathew Doyle in collaboration with Dharug elders and community members the late Richard Green, Peta Strachan and Julie Jones.
“It is an honour to support the work of such a distinguished cultural practitioner and artist as Peta Strachan and her intergenerational all-female Jannawi Dance Clan,” said ACE Executive Director Anne Loxley. “Peta is connected to the lands and waters on which we at ACE work, and her enactments of her culture are generous, captivating and life-affirming.”
Garrigarrang Badu is supported by the Indigenous Languages and Arts (ILA) Program and Restart Investment to Sustain and Expand (RISE) Fund.
Garrigarrang Badu will be performed Friday 20th January 2023 at the Old Government House in Parramatta. This is a FREE event, but registration is highly encouraged. For more info visit https://ice.org.au/garrigarrang-badu/