Women Dancing

Barunga is in "White Cockatoo" country and its stories are told with music and dance. There are different corroborees for different purposes but educating the young plays a large part in each corroboree. Some are for men only or women only but we saw the fun stories where everyone is invited to participate. The nighttime corroboree started by inviting the "mimi spirits" and the women had a special part to play so we had to get up to dance. The audience is encouraged to participate, offer encouragement and advice to the dancers and can even demand that a dance be repeated if the dancers don't dance to the audience's satisfaction.

Each dance has its own rhythms and music. The songman is the boss and sings the stories. The didjeridu player, the man clapping the sticks and the dancers all take their cues from him. The women from the Tanami Desert dance without music.