Movement for life, with famed dancer Waangenga Blanco.
2 min video | 6 minute read | Slowraft Editions #05
Through Movement
Waangenga (Wan-eh-ga) is a descendant of the Meriam Mer people and of the Pajinka Wik people, Cape York. A professional dancer, father and cultural figure in our local surrounds.
Having danced across the globe, Waangenga has recently helped choreograph what the Guardian has called a ‘terrific, thrilling, wake-up call for society” a family man who has shared his Indigenous culture and story with many friends and family in our local area and beyond; we spent a morning on country sharing yarns and dance to gain insights to Waangenga’s art, caring, highlights and advice to his younger self.
When we spoke, you said that dance has been with you all through your life. How has it shaped the person you are today?
Dance has always played a major role in my life. It's given me a superpower that can take me beyond the body and transcend me from the physical. It's always been a really healthy way for me to express myself. And as I've moved through life, I've been able to feel the benefits and the magic of dance and now I get to share that with others as I move through the world, making dance and now I get to share that with others as I move through the world, making dance accessible to everybody.
Your art opens many eyes — is this something you have always looked to do, and now, with a young family, do you see all our children gaining a better appreciation for Indigenous culture across Australia?
I share my passion for dance and for my culture, which runs back to Merriam Mare, the Torres Strait Islands, and Bejinka Wick in Western Cape York Peninsula and Far Northern Queensland. I find it a privilege to be able to share what I've learnt and what I know of my culture, and I do see a greater appreciation for Indigenous culture from what I grew up with. Yeah, there's much more understanding of the story so far.
Your career in performance and dance has taken you all over the world. Still, I read that going back to where your family bloodline runs, Mer (Murry Island) is one of your favourite performances. What made that so special, and what other performances stand out for you?
Yeah, I've had the great fortune of travelling the world many times, sharing our culture and dance. A highlight for me would have been performing back on Merriam Mare, the island where my father's bloodline runs back. Creating a work that was inspired by Miriam Mair and then getting to take it back and perform it on a stage that we built next to the church, right on the beach, performing just for the community, which the community helped us prepare the space and we were there for a week integrating ourselves into island life.
Yeah, it's still a standout for me. It's so magical. While we danced, you could see the sharks playing in the shallows and the stars bursting into the sky as the sunset. It was just heavenly. It's something I'll never forget.
“While we danced, you could see the sharks playing in the shallows and the stars bursting into the sky as the sunset. It was just heavenly. It's something I'll never forget.”
What would you share if you were to offer advice to the younger version of yourself going through NAISDA Dance College?
If I could give advice to a younger version of myself, particularly the one who was studying dance back in 2001/4, I would tell him to trust, to trust in the process. That it's all ceremony, it's not necessarily about the performative outcome but the process. It's about the space in between the breaths. That's where life happens. And that's what I would tell myself.
Lastly, tell us about 37, currently in Brisbane. It shares the tale of two cousins transforming the luck of a town, right?
I had the great fortune of recently choreographing a play called 37, which was just in a sold-out season in Melbourne at the Melbourne Theatre Company at the Sumner Theatre and just opened on the 13th of April in Brisbane at the Billy Brown Theatre in Queensland Theatre. It's there for three weeks, and it's the story of two young Indigenous cousins who travelled to the Coast League to join a football team where they're about to change the luck of this town and this football club. And 37 is about Adam Goodes' Guernsey number, the great AFL star, who faced a lot of controversy around being abused by football crowds and was called an ape, and a lot of racism was brought up around this when he did a war cry dance. So, the story is not a biopic of Adam Goodes, but it deals with many of the issues raised around that time, about eight years ago. There are lots of laughs in it because we deal with a lot of our pain through humour. There are also some heavy issues, but it is a must-see. It's been described as perfect theatre. I recommend everybody go and see if they can. 37.
