{"id":189045,"date":"2023-11-25T01:46:30","date_gmt":"2023-11-25T01:46:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsneednews.com\/?p=189045"},"modified":"2023-11-25T01:46:30","modified_gmt":"2023-11-25T01:46:30","slug":"deaf-indigenous-and-proud-the-performers-taking-the-dance-world-by-storm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsneednews.com\/lifestyle\/deaf-indigenous-and-proud-the-performers-taking-the-dance-world-by-storm\/","title":{"rendered":"Deaf, Indigenous and proud: The performers taking the dance world by storm"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Patty Morris-Banjo started going deaf as a child, but that didn\u2019t stop her from taking ballet lessons.<\/p>\n

As the only child in her dance class who was deaf or Indigenous \u2013 Morris-Banjo is a Kuku-Thaypan Yalanji woman \u2013 she persevered despite the difficulties.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would ask my teacher to turn the music up and put the speakers on the floor \u2026 so I could feel the sound vibrations,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Patty Morris-Banjo: \u2018I didn\u2019t feel different. I was the same as everyone else.\u2019<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Sean Davey<\/cite><\/p>\n

\u201cI remember being on stage and not realising that the audience made a noise when it clapped. And it wasn\u2019t until the lights went on did I see \u2018Wow, there\u2019s so many people!\u2019 because I couldn\u2019t hear the clapping.\u201d<\/p>\n

Outside dance class, deafness made Morris-Banjo\u2019s childhood lonely. She was sent to a school for disabled children in Cairns, more than 300 kilometres from her hometown of Laura. And while school allowed her to speak through sign language, she missed the cultural learning \u201cthat Aboriginal kids get when they hear stories from their parents and aunties\u201d.<\/p>\n

School holidays were a happy occasion to return home, but Morris-Banjo soon realised her community could not understand her sign language. \u201cThere was this world I call \u2018the hearing world\u2019 that I couldn\u2019t belong to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dance, however, was freeing, no matter where she went.<\/p>\n

In Laura, Morris-Banjo found two deaf elders who taught her cultural lore visually using \u201cdance stories\u201d. And in Cairns, ballet allowed her to prove that disability was not limiting.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce I got on stage and could perform \u2013 that\u2019s when I enjoyed it. I loved the movement, the physicality of it \u2026 I didn\u2019t feel different. I was the same as everyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 1997, Morris-Banjo co-founded the Deaf Indigenous Dance Group, whose performers are culturally deaf or hearing-impaired. Based in Cairns, DIDG now comprises 15 performers and is in high demand.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur audiences are often gobsmacked, which we love! We are seen as equal in the dance world, which [for hearing-impaired people] doesn\u2019t happen in other parts of our lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

To perform to music, DIDG members use special techniques. These include counting beats, focusing on bodily awareness, feeling sound vibrations, and relying on visual cues \u2013 Morris-Banjo calls it \u201cseeing the music\u201d. The results are astounding.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe love that our dancers are beautiful, but that we [also] make a cultural impact. People who can hear often don\u2019t know a lot about deafness, and they\u2019ve never seen a deaf dance group, let alone an Indigenous deaf dance group. So we love that we can say: \u2018This is who we are, and we do it well.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

This weekend, in a dream come true for Morris-Banjo, DIDG debuts at the Sydney Opera House in DanceRites, Australia\u2019s largest Indigenous dance competition.<\/p>\n

Michael Hutchings, who is of Arrernte heritage and the Sydney Opera House head of First Nations programming, expects this year\u2019s DanceRites to be on an unprecedented scale, with more than 300 dancers representing over 30 nations and clans flying in from across Australia.<\/p>\n

\u201cDanceRites is such an important and joyful celebration, so it\u2019s a really exciting moment to be able to welcome our First Nations communities back to Tubowgule, the land that the Opera House stands on.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the largest national dance competition for mob to share their unique dance, languages, and cultures, we\u2019re incredibly proud to continue the storytelling traditions that have taken place here for tens of thousands of years.\u201d<\/p>\n

DanceRites also allows groups from remote locations to meet for the first time. For the locally based Brolga Dance Academy, which works in Redfern on Gadigal Country, this is why DanceRites is so important.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are looking forward to being able to connect with other dance groups from across the nation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cConnection is extremely important to us. Connection to culture, Country, other dance groups, and storytelling.\u201c<\/p>\n

Sue Frank, a Wagadagam and Badulgal woman and DIDG\u2019s general manager, explains that connection is something deaf people often struggle to find through no fault of their own.<\/p>\n

The challenges can be greater for deaf Indigenous people, due to the importance of verbal storytelling in Indigenous culture, and geographical or socioeconomic barriers to accessing therapeutic support programs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t until I got involved in the deaf mob did I feel like I belonged,\u201d Morris-Banjo agrees.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut when I danced, when I joined DIDG, it was like a light was turned on. People can see us as the performers that we are. People can see us as equals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Frank agrees, noting that DIDG can be \u201clife-changing\u201d for its members. \u201cThat light is a lovely symbol for both of our cultures coming together. That\u2019s what Patty\u2019s done. She is an example of deaf people succeeding.\u201d<\/p>\n

DanceRites, November 25 and 26, Sydney Opera House forecourt<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

The Booklist is a weekly newsletter for book lovers from books editor Jason Steger. <\/i><\/b>Get it delivered every Friday<\/i><\/b>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

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