SOUTHERN NGALIA WOMEN'S DANCE CAMPS

In 2009 Gretel co-founded an intergenerational dance camp project with Warlpiri senior women from Yuendumu (Northern Territory) and youth worker Natalie O'Connor in response to the elder women's concern that cultural knowledge was not being transferred to younger generations of Warlpiri women. In 2010 Gretel garnered some research funding with a small team from Victoria University to interview some of the Warlpiri women on issues of dance pedagogy in the cultural transference process and consult with them on future directions for the camps. The camps continue to be a much-anticipated twice-yearly event, facilitated by the senior women with InCite  Arts, Warlpiri Youth Development Aboriginal Corporation and local partners.
 http://incitearts.org.au/sn/

Gretel wrote about her experiences of dancing with the Warlpiri women on their country, and about her own 'locating' dance in relation to place in 'Dancing Country Two Ways' in Writings on Dance, 2012. 
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BodyPlaceProject is based on the unceded lands of the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung people in Corhanwarrabul/Dandenong Ranges and Narrm/Melbourne, and undertakes work in many other locations. We pay deep respect to First Nations elders past and present, who have listened to Country and danced, sung and told stories in and about their places for millennia, to share knowledge and to care for Country and people. ​
​They are the first site-specific artists!