Details of Waringarri Dancers

Catalog Number : 25970
Size : 140cm x 100cm
Medium : natural earth pigment on canvas
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Song and dance is an intrinsic aspect of Kimberley cultural life, not just as part of ceremony but as entertainment for family and community. Dances learnt as young children are continuosly practiced. The performance in the upper left is Wangga. Danced by both men and women, the dance is an energetic celebration most commonlly performed publicly. In the upper right is the performance of the Bali Bali Balga. Dancers carry large thread cross totems on their shoulders with stamping feet and swaying movements to the accompaniment of song and boomerang clap-sticks. The thread cross construction of brightly coloured wools, varying in size and complexity, image the key elements of the dance story. Below in the lower left is the women's performance of Moonga Moonga. In this dance the swaying movements of the small totems carried by the women often represents the tidal ebb and flow of the river. In the lower right dancers perform Joonba. In this performance the dancers wear tall paper-bark hats. Their bodies are daubed with ochre and with feathers. Gum leaves are tied about their legs. Alan paints these dances so that the story of culture and tradition can be carried on by younger people.