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y separately published work icon Dancing in Shadows : Histories of Nyungar Performance multi chapter work   criticism  
Issue Details: First known date: 2018... 2018 Dancing in Shadows : Histories of Nyungar Performance
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'Dancing in Shadows explores the power of Indigenous performance pitted against the forces of settler colonisation. Historian Anna Haebich documents how the Nyungar people of Western Australia strategically and courageously adapted their rich performance culture to survive the catastrophe that engulfed them, and generously share their culture, history, and language in theatre. 

'In public corroborees they performed their sovereignty to the colonists and in community-only gatherings they danced and sang to bring forth resilience and spiritual healing. Pushed away by the colonists and denied their culture and lands they continued to live and perform in the shadows over the years, in combinations of the old and the new, including indigenised settler songs and dances. Nyungar people survived, and they now number around 40,000 people and constitute the largest Aboriginal nation in the Australian settler state. The ancient family lineages live in city suburbs and country towns and they continue to perform to celebrate their ancestors and to strengthen community wellbeing by being together.

Dancing in Shadows sheds light on a little-known history of Nyungar performance.' (Publication summary)

Notes

  • Contents:

    Foreword / Dr Richard Walley OAM ;

    Interviewers Anna Haebich and Terri-ann White 

    Introduction

    1. Performance culture and activism

    2. Tourism, sports and official welcomes  

    3. Mission music making  

    4. performing in 'unexpected places' 

    5. Nyungar theatre 

    6. Bindjareh Pinjarra: a play about the massacre 

    7. Wanjoo! Yarning witih Gianna Williams

  • Dedication: for my mother, Ruth

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Crawley, Inner Perth, Perth, Western Australia,: UWA Publishing , 2018 .
      image of person or book cover 2673615246498730414.jpg
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: 350p.
      Note/s:
      • Published 1st March 2018

      ISBN: 9781742589718

Works about this Work

[Review] Dancing in Shadows: Histories of Nyungar Performance Anna Haebich , 2022 single work review
— Appears in: Aboriginal History Journal , April no. 45 2022;

— Review of Dancing in Shadows : Histories of Nyungar Performance Anna Haebich , 2018 multi chapter work criticism
[Review] Dancing in Shadows: Histories of Nyungar Performance Maryrose Casey , 2019 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Historical Studies , vol. 50 no. 2 2019; (p. 272-273)

'Anna Haebich’s book is a richly researched and beautifully written study of Nyungar cultural history with a focus on performance. From the first the book challenges colonial narratives about what is and is not Nyungar performance. Habitually following colonial narratives about so-called primitive cultures, only performances that can be categorised as ‘pre-contact’ are seen as owned in any way by Aboriginal people. Other performances have been described as a sign of cultural contamination or degradation illustrating a loss of culture. At best the performances are described as hybrid or fusion rather than as part of Aboriginal modernity. As the eminent Aboriginal playwright and musician Richard Walley says in the Foreword, the response even in the twentieth century was ‘Hang on this is not Aboriginal’ … ‘Stay in the glass jar over there that’s iconic Aboriginal’ (xii). Even more pertinently, Walley continues with the endless message he and others like him received from white audiences, producers and critics, ‘We don’t want you to do anything else’ (xii). Haebich’s book is enriched by extensive archival research, interviews, detailed examinations of paintings and photographs and her own observations which offer a different perspective. Haebich has also included a valuable collection of images in the book.'  (Introduction)

[Review] Dancing in Shadows: Histories of Nyungar Performance Anna Haebich , 2022 single work review
— Appears in: Aboriginal History Journal , April no. 45 2022;

— Review of Dancing in Shadows : Histories of Nyungar Performance Anna Haebich , 2018 multi chapter work criticism
[Review] Dancing in Shadows: Histories of Nyungar Performance Maryrose Casey , 2019 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Historical Studies , vol. 50 no. 2 2019; (p. 272-273)

'Anna Haebich’s book is a richly researched and beautifully written study of Nyungar cultural history with a focus on performance. From the first the book challenges colonial narratives about what is and is not Nyungar performance. Habitually following colonial narratives about so-called primitive cultures, only performances that can be categorised as ‘pre-contact’ are seen as owned in any way by Aboriginal people. Other performances have been described as a sign of cultural contamination or degradation illustrating a loss of culture. At best the performances are described as hybrid or fusion rather than as part of Aboriginal modernity. As the eminent Aboriginal playwright and musician Richard Walley says in the Foreword, the response even in the twentieth century was ‘Hang on this is not Aboriginal’ … ‘Stay in the glass jar over there that’s iconic Aboriginal’ (xii). Even more pertinently, Walley continues with the endless message he and others like him received from white audiences, producers and critics, ‘We don’t want you to do anything else’ (xii). Haebich’s book is enriched by extensive archival research, interviews, detailed examinations of paintings and photographs and her own observations which offer a different perspective. Haebich has also included a valuable collection of images in the book.'  (Introduction)

Last amended 13 Sep 2019 10:30:13
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