The Wagana Aboriginal Dancers from the Blue Mountains will share their story at the World Indigenous People’s Conference on Education (WIPCE) in Canada next month.
Jo Clancy, Becky Chatfield and two of Wagana’s youngest dancers, Regina Tempest and Phoenix Tempest, will attend the conference in Toronto from July 24-28.
The WIPCE presentation continues a year of highlights for Wagana, an acclaimed touring First Nations Dance Company.
In March they were invited by the Australian Consulate in Hawaii to represent Australia at the Honolulu Festival. They performed at the Hawaii Convention Centre, marched in the grand parade and delivered a series of dance and cultural workshops in schools.
In April Wagana artistic director Jo Clancy traveled to Glasgow with support from Create NSW where she spent three weeks delivering a contemporary Aboriginal dance workshop program for children and young people. The highlight of her time in Scotland was connecting with young dancers and dance teachers from the Scottish Dance Theatre in Dundee, Learn 2 Dance in Glasgow and Skye Dance on the Isle of Skye.
Blue Mountains residents will get the chance to see Wagana share their Wiradjuri and Darug language through song and dance when the perform in Katoomba on Friday, June 30. The performance at the Carrington Hotel ballroom is part of NAIDOC events.
Tickets are $35 for adults and $20 for Elders and children. As well as an opportunity to see indigenous dance of an international calibre, there will be lucky door prizes, finger food, prizes for the deadliest dressed and best mover on the dance floor and live music by the Bob Sutor Band. Email jo.clancy@bigpond.com to book tickets.