DANCES WITH LYREBIRDS
Dance: Gretel Taylor Photography; Kate Baker Sound: Anthony Magen
This collaboration in response to the Superb Lyrebird was also a means to explore relationships to place in the Yarra Ranges, Victoria. The exhibition and performance was presented at Burrinja Cultural Centre, Upwey and The Memo Gallery, Healesville, supported by a grant from Yarra Ranges Council. A particularly exciting aspect of the project was the involvement of Wurundjeri artist Mandy Nicholson and Djirri Djirri dance group, who excavated, revived and performed the Wurundjeri lyrebird (Buln-Buln) dance, which had almost slipped out of cultural knowledge, but is now a mainstay of their regular performance repertoire.
Artist's statement:
Damp moss, decomposing undergrowth and unfurling fern fronds, as well as qualities of lyrebird behaviour—witnessed, researched and imagined- infiltrate my movement. Learning that the Wurundjeri associate Buln-buln (the lyrebird) with death and the spirit people of the mist gave my dance a ritualistic quality: an openness to transformation. In my personal encounters with lyrebirds I enjoyed their more comical aspects, such as pedantic housekeeping, vanity and flamboyant and persistent seduction practices. I also entertained an element of the ‘Drag King’, in that I am a female impersonating a male’s performance.
The role of the Lyrebird as interlocutor- one who ‘speaks between’- became very interesting to me. The lyrebird weaves together elements of the forest, incorporating other birds’ and creatures’ sounds, as well as human-introduced phenomena such as chainsaws and cameras, into his own, and passes on this cumulative vocabulary to next generations of lyrebirds. Via this 'oral tradition' the lyrebird retains layers of the past within the present place.
Photos by Kate Baker
More about Dances with Lyrebirds: www.facebook.com/danceswithlyrebirds
This collaboration in response to the Superb Lyrebird was also a means to explore relationships to place in the Yarra Ranges, Victoria. The exhibition and performance was presented at Burrinja Cultural Centre, Upwey and The Memo Gallery, Healesville, supported by a grant from Yarra Ranges Council. A particularly exciting aspect of the project was the involvement of Wurundjeri artist Mandy Nicholson and Djirri Djirri dance group, who excavated, revived and performed the Wurundjeri lyrebird (Buln-Buln) dance, which had almost slipped out of cultural knowledge, but is now a mainstay of their regular performance repertoire.
Artist's statement:
Damp moss, decomposing undergrowth and unfurling fern fronds, as well as qualities of lyrebird behaviour—witnessed, researched and imagined- infiltrate my movement. Learning that the Wurundjeri associate Buln-buln (the lyrebird) with death and the spirit people of the mist gave my dance a ritualistic quality: an openness to transformation. In my personal encounters with lyrebirds I enjoyed their more comical aspects, such as pedantic housekeeping, vanity and flamboyant and persistent seduction practices. I also entertained an element of the ‘Drag King’, in that I am a female impersonating a male’s performance.
The role of the Lyrebird as interlocutor- one who ‘speaks between’- became very interesting to me. The lyrebird weaves together elements of the forest, incorporating other birds’ and creatures’ sounds, as well as human-introduced phenomena such as chainsaws and cameras, into his own, and passes on this cumulative vocabulary to next generations of lyrebirds. Via this 'oral tradition' the lyrebird retains layers of the past within the present place.
Photos by Kate Baker
More about Dances with Lyrebirds: www.facebook.com/danceswithlyrebirds