Dirtsong tells another Australian history

Dirtsong
Black Arm Band
New Zealand Festival
Michael Fowler Centre
February 28

We all know that performances by Maori performance groups have become sophisticated in the last few years with kapa haka competitions and a growing interest in combining traditional song and movement with newer forms.

But it is not something one would have thought about the arts of the indigenous Aboriginal and Torres Island cultures, who are generally portrayed in the media as only a few steps removed from a primitive culture.

Dirtsong changes all that. This multimedia show combining music, texts, visuals and song brings a new perspective and understanding to the lives, thinking and creativity of the indigenous people of Australia.

Combining the historic and mythic past with the realities of today. singers and musicians weave a multi-layered tapestry that goes some way to creating a way of seeing, feeling and sensing.

This is achieved by having a variety of musical instruments – grand piano, violin, saxophone and guitar along with didgeridoo and large 40-gallon tin drum. There is also a standard drum kit paired with a drum kit assembled from scavenged rubbish bin and car hubcaps.

Images of landscape play on a giant screen behind the performers, featuring the vast landscape of Australia along with images of the indigenous people. We start to see and feel it as different, alerted by the rolling text, which does not offer descriptions of the landscape but rather phrases that connect the person with the land and which sees the land as a living entity – “my country he’s alright” and “spirit talking to you – you can hear it.”

This is a celebration of a connection with the living land, something we have lost but which is rekindled to some extent as it conflates a way of living and understanding with history, mythology, social and political issues.

After an opening welcome by tangata whenua, Archie Roach sang “Far Away Homer / Gungalair” in both English and Bunjalung. The text and the music based on music written for film “The Tracker.” The song is a lament for being far from his physical home but also far from his other land, a land which has disappeared

The other songs on the programme, each sung in one of 11 different languages, were presented by Archie Roach, Paul Kelly, Fred Leone and Yiorrmal Marika along with a trio of exceptional female voices – Emma Donovan, Deline Briscoe and Ursulae Yovich.

The opening karanga and other appearances by Maori performers provides a link between the indigenous people from the two nations

While there was a bit of English, most of the songs are sung in the aboriginal languages. Unfortunately, there were no English translations – only a few fleeting magical texts by Alexis Wright that gave a sense of what the singers were conveying. This lack of translation may have contributed to the authenticity of the show but meant there was a lack of connection which lessened the overall impact. Even so, the programme touched the  full capacity audience which responded with a rapturous spontaneous standing ovation.

Tune into NBR Radio’s Sunday Business with Andrew Patterson, launching this Sunday morning, for analysis and feature-length interviews.