of dance
p. 55 · Read in the full issue
Dance
A celebration of dance
By Liz Thompson
EVERY New Year’s Eve, a tiny Queens land town about 3 hours north of Brisbane bursts into song and dance. The Malaney folk festival has become some thing of an institution and attracts an extraordinary assortment of visitors from
throughout Australia and neighbouring
Pacific Islands.
Beneath clear blue skies and the blazing Queensland sun, music and dance vibrates from numerous stages from 9.00 am until the early hours of the morning. This year the Pacific Islands were well represented with an extremely powerful performance from the Maori dance group, Nga Hoa Puma, who, on arrival conducted a Maori ritual, tra ditionally performed when arriving on other peoples’ land, which, in this instance, took place with the Aboriginal landowners. Polynesian dancers ex plained the origins and meaning of their dances and their musicians explained how they made and played their drama.
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander programme was extensive and took place largely on a especially con structed Murri Stage. Theatre, dance, music and formal speeches and debates were spread across the six days of the festival at the Indigenous Peoples’ event.
All the Murri dance groups visiting the festival came together with other indi genous groups to farewell the United Nations International Year for the World’s Indigenous people. These in cluded Polynesian dancers, malu Kiwai, Torres Strait Islander Dancers, White Mountain Apache Crown Dancers from North America, Umelalonama Niugini, Ngfa Hoa Puma Dance group from New Zealannd and Tokelau Island Dancers.
Next year the Folk Festival will move to a new venue as its popularity has seen it outgrow its current location. Possibly moving on to Lismore in NSW, it is a festival well worth a visit. □
In Thompson In traditional garb: a Torres Straits Island dancer