FORM Dance Projects respectfully acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we work and dance: the Burramattagal people and clans of the Dharug Nation.
We pay our respects to Dharug Elders past, present and emerging. We celebrate the continuing culture of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and extend our respect to all first nations people.
Hosted and curated by Peta Strachan and Jannawi Dance Clan
WHAT
2-day workshop hosted by Dharug artist Peta Strachan and Jannawi Dance Clan. Gathering some of Australia’s foremost First Nations artists, dancers, and cultural leaders, DARUNGA will provide a platform for cultural exchange, professional development, and creative collaboration for local artists.
Throughout the weekend, participants will engage in skill-building workshops including Dharug dance and music, Torres Strait Islander dance, contemporary First Nations dance, cultural adornment making, and deep cultural discussions. DARUNGA aims to foster cross-cultural exchange, ensure cultural continuity, and provide a space for growth and creativity within the local Indigenous and broader arts communities.
Open to Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists.
Spaces are limited, so get in quick!
Saturday 11 October / 9:30 – 18:00
Sunday 12 October / 10:00 – 19:00
Newington Armory Theatre, Sydney Olympic Park.
Access and parking instructions will be provided to registered participants.
$10 Registration Fee for Mob
$200 for non-Indigenous participants
Saturday 11 October
9am-9.30am Studio Open
9.30am-10.30am Welcome and Smoking Ceremony hosted by Dharug custodian Peta Strachan and Jannawi Dance Clan
10.30am-12pm Workshop #1 Beau Dean Riley Smith, contemporary dance and movement
12pm-1pm LUNCH
1pm-3.00pm Workshop #2 Peta Strachan and Jannawi Dance Clan Workshop, Traditional Dharug dance and contemporary movement
3.00pm-3.30pm BREAK
3.30pm-5pm Workshop #3 Matthew Doyle Workshop, Language, Music and Song
5pm-6pm Workshop #4 Cultural adornment making
Sunday 12 October
9.30am-10am Studio Open
10am-11.30am Workshop #5 BlakDance Workshop w/Marilyn Miller Producing Dance
11.30am-1pm Workshop #6 Shyamla Eswaran, Bindi Bosses Parai Attam Tamil Folk Dance Workshop
1pm-2pm LUNCH
2pm-3.30pm Workshop #7 Buia David Torres Strait Islander dance
3.30pm-4pm Workshop Recap
4pm-5.30pm YARN with leading industry professionals from around Australia
5.30pm-6pm BREAK
6pm-7pm Performance and Closing Ceremony
*Please note that the exact workshop content may change
Jannawi Dance Clan
Jannawi Dance Clan is a First Nations intergenerational dance collective based in Western Sydney. Founded in 2008 by Artistic Director Peta Strachan, Jannawi meaning ‘with me, with you’ in Dharug language, centres on Indigenous storytelling through dance and performance, embodied language revitalisation, traditional movement and new forms. Jannawi celebrates the strength, resilience and stories of Aboriginal people in NSW. Jannawi has a rich artistic body of critical, relevant work & is highly regarded.
Peta Strachan
Peta Strachan is a Dharug woman from the Boorooberongal Clan, she has been working in the performance space for 35 years as a multi-disciplinary dancer. During Strachan’s career she has danced with Bangarra, performed for the 2000 Sydney Olympic opening and closing ceremonies and has performed around the country. Strachan is the Artistic Director of Jannawi Dance Clan and freelances as a dancer, choreographer, teacher, and costume maker. Dharug culture is at the centre of everything Strachan creates, and she has dedicated years of work to creating one of Australia’s most renowned Matriarchal dance clans. Alongside Julie Jones and Chris Tobin, she is a member of ACE’s Dharug Knowledge Holders Group.
Matthew Doyle
Matthew Doyle is a Descendant of the Muruwari People from Northwest NSW. He studied at NAISDA College and became a founding member of AIDT the Company. Matthew is a dancer, musician, composer, songman, didgeridoo player, cultural consultant and educator with over 35 years experience in the Performing Arts. He has toured extensively in Australia and abroad and has performed in major events such as 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, the Sydney 2000 Opening and Closing Ceremonies, ABC Millennium Broadcast on top of the Sydney Opera House, opened the Indigenous Gallery Musee Du Quay Branly in Paris, World Expo Japan, I am Eora Sydney Festival Production(Wesley Enoch) and he opened the Australian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale with Djakapura Munyarryun and William Barton. Matthew has recorded several music albums of his own music and has co-composed music for Bangarra as well as being a Cultural Consultant for the company. Matthew has also been working in the Indigenous Arts in Education for the last 20 years and is a panel member of the Indigenous Advisory Panel for the City of Sydney Council. He is a National Ambassador for the Leukemia Foundation and currently works at NIDA as the First Nations Uncle in residence .
Beau Dean Riley Smith
Beau is a Wiradjuri and Gamillaraay man from Dubbo NSW, raised on Yuin Country in Culburra Beach and Nowra, now living on Gadigal land.
Beau is an award-winning dancer, choreographer and actor who performed with Bangarra Dane Theatre from 2013 – 2022 under the artistic direction of Stephen Page. He studied Theatre at WAAPA and later joined NAISDA Dance College graduating with a Diploma of Dance. In his 10 years with Bangarra, he has performed in over 22 major productions as well as performing in films, SPEAR (Stephen Page) and Moving Targets (Tony Albert) and choreographed Miyagan from OUR land people stories – a work that Bangarra returned to Country as part of the 2018 regional tour and won a Helpmann Award for best regional touring program.
Beau’s career highlights include performing the title role in Bennelong (2017) of which he later won a Helpmann Award for Best Male Dancer, an Australian Dance Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Dancer and was nominated for the Greenroom Award for Dance (Male Performer). In 2022, Beau made his musical theatre debut as Dave Daylight in The Sunshine Club by Queensland Theatre under Wesley Enoch’s direction. In 2023 Beau made his Sydney Theatre Company debut in The Visitors directed by Wesley Enoch and choreographed Gubba for New Breed Sydney Dance Company. In 2025 Beau danced in Manifest choreographed by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui for Strut Dance.
Beau’s passion for First Nations storytelling crosses artistic disciplines to bring to life the distinctive energy and nuanced quality central to cultural and contemporary Indigenous life.
Marilyn Miller (MFA- Cultural Leadership NIDA, BBus., DipCounselling, DipDance,)
Marilyn is of Kukuyalanji / Waanyi Heritage who was born in Cairns and spent most of her life and Career in the Arts in Sydney, co-founding Australia’s 1st Contemporary Indigenous Dance Company AIDT-the Company, in the early 1990’s. She is the Founder of BlakDance Australia Ltd, now in its 10th year, and sits on the BlakDance Cultural Council. She is also the Deputy Chair of the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair (CIAF). Throughout her Career, Marilyn has been; Artistic Associate, Cairns Indigenous Art Fair (CIAF), Creative Producer, Yirrama Yaanga-na (2016), Festival Director, Laura Aboriginal Dance Festival (LADF), 2013; Artistic Director, Australian Delegation – Festival of Pacific Arts 2012 (Solomon Islands); Creative Producer, 2008 Opening of Parliament–Welcome to Country; Artistic Director, Kooemba-Jdarra Performing Arts Company; Mentor for the Youth Justice Program RECLAIM, at enVizion; and has worked part-time in a Women’s Shelter as well as with Healing in Action – Granny’s Yarns, as a Life Coach/Counsellor with children in out-of-home care, and single Mothers.
Buia David is a proud Kulkalgal woman from Zenadth Kes (Torres Strait Islands) and an accomplished cultural dancer and performing artist bringing over a decade of experience performing across Australia and internationally. Buia has appeared at prominent festivals such as Yabun, Boomerang, and the Woodford Folk Festival and served as both dancer and rehearsal director for the Welcome to Country performance at Sydney’s New Year’s Eve Concert in 2021. She continues to deepen her cultural practice through work with a wide range of Indigenous dance companies and cultural organisations, including Jannawi Dance Clan, Walangari Karntawarra and Diramu Aboriginal Dance & Didgeridoo, as well as Harbour Beizam and Mui Mui Bumer Gedlam (Torres Strait). She is a regular performer and puppeteer with Erth Visual & Physical Inc. for the past eight years, Buia has toured nationally with acclaimed productions such as Marri Dyin, Dino Zoo, Prehistoric Picnic, and Duba.
Buia created her own Torres Strait Islander dance group, Magun Zenadth Kes Dance Group. Through this ensemble, she continues to showcase and preserve Torres Strait Islander culture. Through both cultural and corporate performances, she actively shares and educates diverse audiences about Indigenous cultures.
BINDI BOSSES is a South Asian fusion arts collective that seamlessly blends traditional and contemporary forms of dance, music, and storytelling to challenge stereotypes and celebrate culture. BINDI BOSSES is known for its powerful performances and workshops that centre inclusivity, representation and social justice. Through their bold and boundary-pushing work, BINDI BOSSES empowers communities and amplifies the voices of marginalised artists on stage, on screen, and in community. Their work has featured at major art centres, cultural festivals, Qudos Bank Arena and on the steps of Sydney Opera House. Founded by Shyamla, a multidisciplinary artist, choreographer and educator whose work fuses contemporary expression with traditional South Asian forms to promote intercultural understanding and anti-discrimination through the arts. Trained in Tamil practices of Parai Attam, Silambam and Yoga, Shyamla regularly travels to Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu to deepen their training. As an independent choreographer, they have created work for Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, Schools Spectacular, the NBL. Their debut solo work GIRMITIYA was part of a sold-out season of Dirty Feet’s 2025 Out of The Studio at Sydney Dance Company. A 2020 Multicultural NSW Premier’s Harmony Medal recipient with a Master’s in Human Rights Law, Shyamla’s practice expresses cultural memory through embodied storytelling.
By booking this workshop you acknowledge and agree that:
This project has been supported through a City of Parramatta Council Community Grant.
The program is made possible by the generous support of City of Parramatta, Jannawi Dance Clan, BlakDance and Create NSW
