Our Mob performance & Kurruru workshop #

A Quick Response Grant recipient, via the Regional Arts Fund, as managed by Country Arts SA.

The Dusty Feet Mob received the opportunity to further their professional development, thorough attending a skills development workshop with Deon Hastie from Kurruru Performing Arts School [KPAS], at their studio in Alberton, South Australia.

The group then participated in the performances at the launch of Our Mob 2016, at the Adelaide Festival Centre, performing in front of 350 audience members.

The experience and confidence gained from the workshop and subsequent performance was priceless, for those who had recently joined the Dusty Feet Mob, and for the crew as a whole.

The skills learned – in areas such as appropriate warm-ups, stretches and choreography – by Wanita, the Dusty Feet Mob’s lead dancer in the workshop, from Deon of KPAS, were invaluable, and the opportunity to learn these skills had not been available in the past.

Cultural & Economic Impacts:

• Increased cultural participation – gained creative skills, and a greater respect for each other and their culture for young Aboriginal people – from involvement in a dance group that tells Aboriginal and contemporary stories
• Formation of new partnerships, especially with Kurruru Performing Arts School, Deon Hastie, and other Aboriginal mentors
• Experience performing publicly at many events, on a national, regional and local level for the Dusty Feet Mob
• Employment opportunities were created via many performances and events in South Australia and interstate, including shows with Archie Roach, at rural and metro schools, the Yurora Festival in Sydney, and shows in Melbourne
• Increased publicity via shows and state-wide media, including to new audiences

Social Impacts:

• Exposure to dance training and professional teachers gave participants the opportunity to develop pride and poise in other areas of their lives – opportunities that would not have been available regionally otherwise
• Increased confidence and opportunities for young people as well as creative skill development – performance skills, dance, choreography
• Broadened exposure to and engagement with Indigenous arts – an audience of 350-strong was in attendance at the Our Mob performance
• Increased capacity for the Dusty Feet Mob, especially in a project management space
• Dusty Feet Mob are successfully putting a contemporary focus on traditional storytelling through song and dance, and creating strong cultural ties for the next generation

Links/socials:

Dusty Feet Mob Facebook page
Dusty Feet Mob performing with Archie Roach

Image: Dusty Feet Mob, Our Mob performance, 2017, South Australia. Photo by: Lara Merrington