Where the salt water meets the fresh water
Jannawi Dance Clan
presented by Sydney Festival in association with Sydney Opera House
World Premiere
Executively Produced by FORM Dance Projects in collaboration with Arts & Cultural Exchange
Garrigarang Badu is a new large scale female lead First Nations contemporary dance work in Dharug language, created and choreographed by Peta Strachan, artistic director of Jannawi Dance Clan.
Garrigarrang Badu invites audiences to bear witness to the strength, resilience, and power of the Dharug Matriarch. Garrigarrang (meaning salt water) and Badu (fresh water) tells the stories of Dharug country which spans from the mountains to the sea, where the fresh water meets the salt water.
Garrigarrang Badu draws on a fusion of contemporary and traditional choreographic and music forms, each portraying the lives of Dharug women living off the land; offering a deep exploration of healing and spiritual connection. Together, they celebrate mother earth and her many gifts, providing modern audiences an ancestral awareness of connection to country and spiritual journey back to land & culture – of healing & connection.
In elevating and amplifying female voices and narratives, Garrigarrang Badu plays homage to the intrinsic role women played in shaping, enriching and enshrining the Dharug nation over millennia. This work plays a vital role in the future and continuation of Dharug songlines, language, stories, dance and passing on of knowledge.
