ABORIGINALS

Dance Description MOVEMENT SPACE MEANING Movements and gestures in Aboriginal dances vary depending on the theme and story they’re telling. A lot of the movement seen in the dances can vary from; hopping, jumping, stomping, Clapping, abstract knee or arm movement. Dances are accompanied by chanting and hand clapping and men often slap their upper legs. SPACE Dance and ritual spaces are usually positioned on directional axis. Traditional dancing grounds and ritual spaces were organized in terms of the dreaming tracks. MEANING “For the people in their own country it defined to roles, responsibilities and the place itself. These ritual performances gave them an understanding of themselves in the interplay of social, geographical and environmental forces. ” (Wikipedia)

Body Decoration & Objects Dancers decorate their bodies with patterns of red and yellow ochres, white pipe clay & charcoal. Male dancers may be decorated with feathers or certain plants & colored with ochre powder, or just left white. They may also where head-dress made of grass and sticks with colored fluff & certain design which is worn mainly by men. Women wear headbands with bunched feathers. Often dancers carry objects varying from decorated boomerangs, shields, spears or fighting sticks depending on the occasion.

Traditional Instruments & Sounds The Didgeridoo – Provides a drone-like sound. Bullroarer – A piece of wood attached to a long string which is swung around to produce a roaring sound Clapsticks – wooden sticks clapping sticks that make a percussive rhythm. Dances are accompanied by chanting, hand clapping and songs in their traditional language. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rspN1MUcIOk

Cultural Values & Beliefs Aboriginal spiritual values are based upon a strong connection and appreciation for the land and a belief in the Dreamtime. Dreamtime describes the commencement of the people and of the land. Dreamtime involves a story of how things have happened, how the universe came to be, how humans were created, and how the creator intended for humans to function in this world.

THE DANCERS AND DANCES

MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN DANCE TOGETHER For a number of Indigenous Australian groups their dances were secret and or sacred, gender could also be an important factor in some ceremonies with men and women having separate ceremonial traditions. Since their respect their dance, it does not have any sexual connotation. Who in this culture dances? Men and Women respect each other. They all dances together, women to their side and man to their side. Sometimes they have people who are designated for specific dance

THEIR DANCE Their dance have religious origin and it varies depending on where tribes are situated. They have the Bungkul which is a traditional dance, but the well known dance is the fire dance. The fire dance is a sacred dance. What are the specific dances danced? Their dance vary depending on where tribes are situated: there is a fire dance, They shake their leg and feet stamping Is the emphasis individualistic or collective (originally)? They always dance in group, but

They are religious and believe in God They are religious and believe in God. They think that they are different from others. They do not like to associate with others because they do not want to lose their culture. Aboriginal they believe that they are different from others, they do not like to associate with everybody because they do not want to lose they culture and they think they ancestors will be mad if they start loosing they culture. These ritual performances gave them an understanding of themselves in the interplay of social, geographical and environmental forces. The performances were associated with specific places and dance grounds were often sacred places.

Contributions to the world Cochlear implants (bionic ear) Pacemakers Google Maps

Australian and American Relations ANZUS Treaty Military support Free Trade Agreement

Evolution of cultural expression A) First people- The Australian  Aboriginal culture represents the oldest surviving culture in the world today.   The aboriginal is a Modern man evolved in Africa about 190,000 years ago, who eventually come to the Australia in 60,000 years ago. The word “aborigine” (with a little “a”) means one of the original native inhabitants of any country. B) The aboriginals are spiritual people with no intentions of harm. They were always into dance and spiritual aspect of it never wanted to change their culture that was older that the stone age and relatively isolated them from the rest of the world. Although lacking a formal written language, for thousands of years the aborigines have recorded their culture as rock art.

Changes A) The Aboriginal culture were unchanged by European influence for many decades up until in the 1940’s and the last traditional nomadic families moved away and settle to in the desert regions in the 1960’.  Over the past thousands of years, the aboriginal cultural style ceased or changed to European contact and passed down through generations and they were then considered “traditions”. They come to develop the spear thrower, and new stone tool technology. B)

Accumulation: meaning of something that was gradually gathered. Accumulation of Dance Accumulation: meaning of something that was gradually gathered. Ancestral heroes. Express clan rights 1960’s - 70’s Aboriginals revitalize their culture and dance. Yelang Dancers and the Torres Strait Island Dance Group in South Brisbane

Oppression or privilege today Most Aboriginal communities still live in squalor, subject to discrimination, unemployment and denial of basic services.

Conclusion In conclusion, we can appreciate how their culture never really changed. They managed to hold onto their culture even when facing others trying to eliminate them.

Sources http://jashm.press.illinois.edu/7.3/7-3Australia_Williams143-153.pdf http://ozoutback.com.au/Australia/abdancent/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dance_in_Australia http://www.aboriginalartonline.com/culture/amusic2.php https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia–United_States_relations https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Maps https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graeme_Clark_(doctor) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_cardiac_pacemaker http://www.australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/austn-indigenous-ceremony

NOTES Aboriginal people are very religious and spiritual each group generally believes in a number of different deities, Aboriginal people do not believe in animism. This is the belief that all natural objects possess a soul. Dance is learnt and passed down from one generation to another. To dance is to be knowledgeable about the stories of the ancestral heroes. This allows large groups of people to demonstrate their clan rights in front of an audience. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, 'urban Aboriginal people were looking at revitalising their culture' through the Yelang Dancers and the Torres Strait Island Dance Group in South Brisbane.