The girls ran and twittered like a flock of little birds around the large studio space at Moree’s SHAE Academy over the end of winter school holidays.
When local dance teacher Shae Duncan called them over, they surrounded her, then fell into lines to begin their warm-up for coordination and focus, before starting the new dance they were choreographing together.
They moved with joy and confidence, standing strong, and learning the lyrics of the song in Gamilaraay Language.
“Garri-y (“Stop!”),” Shae said.
“Garri-y!” the girls repeated.
“Yana-y,” she said.
“Yana-y!” the girls shouted.
“And yana-y means ‘go’,” she said.
The rest of the song culminated with “Barray! Minya-gu yana-waa-nhi? Yulugi! (Fast! What did you come for? Dance!).”
Shae broke down each syllable and explained the words, and the girls responded with energy.
It was the final day of Step to the Beat, a three-day workshop over 17-19 July, pairing Shae’s Yulugi Marumali dance studio and creatives from Armidale’s Mad Proppa Deadly (MPD) audio team to create a unique piece or choreography to a piece of music specifically created and recorded during the workshop.
In the packed three days, Shae partnered with the MPD studio trio of audio engineer Rex Weatherall and DJ AJ teamed up with Moree music producer Tommy Young to create a beat and full track with audio of the girls speaking the lyrics. She gave them the specifics about tempo and mood.
“And then we’ll make the story on top of whatever beat you come up with, and so it all kind of falls into place with what comes to you,” she said.
Shae said this was the first time the dance group would have a bespoke piece for one of her dances, and felt excited about the collaboration.
“Our dance group, Yulugi Marumali, we really need home base tracks to dance to. I prefer to use at-home music,” she said.
“I’ve been using my uncle’s tracks for dance, but he made them already. And I know other music places have come and made music for them. But this is the first time we got our own little instrumental made.”
She said the choices and preferences she gave to the audio team to create the music was very specific, with the inclusion of Language and the sound of clapsticks.
“To give them a sense of belonging to the music that they’re going to own, and create a story, too,” Shae explained.
“I felt this was important to include as I come from a strong bloodline of fluent language speakers as my Grandfather Thomas Binge was recorded speaking gamilaraay language on the Moree mission in the 1950s.
“This has helped me connect to language and I wanted to share that connection to the younger kids and give them an opportunity to learn and embrace that practice into their lives by involving language on the music track.”
The dance was created with input from the girls over the workshop. Shae said she tried not to put too many of her own ideas in their heads. Instead, she encouraged them to come up with their own choreography, and she integrated their ideas into the dance, which represented Gamilaroi Culture.
“With the reaching on the ground, that’s representing connection to Country. Also on a journey, so that’s why I get them to point and follow,” she said.
“The dance is about journey, language, connection.”
The sound team invited the dancers to pack into the on-site, colourful recording studio, and they lined the seats along the sides, paying attention to engineers Tommy and Rex, and taking turns pulling on the headphones and speaking into the mic.
‘Yulugi!” shouted a small girl with delight.
“Good job,” Shae said.
Between dance and recording, and the tasty lunches, the girls thoroughly enjoyed the workshop.
Dancer Rhylee Wells said she really like the move where they threw out one leg and reached high to touch the sky. It was a highlight in a fun workshop.
“Because it’s fun to make new friends, and I like coming to Shae to dance,” she said.
Niyaani Munro really liked recording her voice, and thought Shae did a good job.
“I like doing the dance inside,” she said. “I like touching the ground.”
In the recording studio, Rex said Shae’s input about the music she envisioned was helpful to compose the beat and record the track.
“It’s super-good when we get a reference to work that she likes to that similar style, so we can not mimic it, but build around the basis of that,” he said.
“She’s got a really good vision. I like how she wants to incorporate language.
The team all agreed they enjoyed the chance to meet new people through the MPD projects, saw the way music can empower people, and share in the love of music. Working with the kids was especially rewarding.
“Living in country towns, there’s not much to do, and when you have too much time on your hands, it’s too much time to do the wrong thing.”
“It all depends on how you want to live your life, but I definitely think it makes a positive impact on the community,” Rex said.
Images: Yulugi Marumali dance founder Shae Duncan and young dancers at the Step the Beat workshop at the SHAE Academy in Moree on 19 July 2024. (Photo: Michèle Jedlicka)
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