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Mother Tongue

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25.01.2022 Conversations about why certain living cultures like from Torres Strait Islands or Flamenco were selected vs. newer percussion-based cultures like Hip Hop. This is because of the connection to earth, their sounds and cultural longevity. We discussed what the social comment that might be from this choice. On the other side, as Euro-Western lens often dominates, one person suggested that depending on which way I decide to push it, could determine the work as verging on variet...y show or as very profound. Cultural competency and sensitivity is essential in all intercultural exploration and research, dialogue and exchange. Without this you're best not to get involved or do some serious long-term study! #mothertongue

25.01.2022 DanceDNA is a process that emerged out of the WDA workshops in France and began to be developed more deeply through series of workshops in Melbourne and Sydney. Before it was even clear, participants were starting to feel the benefits. DNA, culture, origin.. Movement, vibration, pulsation. I enjoy so much fantasising with these concepts. It never ends ;) I really enjoyed it and had fun. Daniela It was wonderful to be part of your discovering and journey. The space I disco...vered was very grounding and sculptural. Devika #MotherTongue #DanceDNA #dancedna

24.01.2022 Dramaturgy is crucial for asking the deeper questions, why, how and what it is you want to say. Sometimes when you are inside it, its easy to lose track of what this is. An outside eye or person that can offer those questions is important. Karen Therese came on board in 2012 and this stirred up some important discussions on appropriation, politics and the nature of aesthetics in culturally-based works. Karen said "this is where the future of intercultural work is headed" #mothertongue

23.01.2022 [2005] One of the original concepts came out of the words 'Demos' and 'Kratia' its Greek origins for the word democracy. 'Demokratia' was a 25min cross-cultural work with 5 dancers and 2 musicians commissioned by Western Sydney Dance Action, (FORM Dance Projects) and performed at Riverside Theatres. Robert Love-Parra said 'it was a sophisticated work expressing how we might be changed when we come into contact with other cultures.' #mothertongue

23.01.2022 [2006] I was asked to direct six cultural dance groups with the Circle of Rhythm playing for every groups as well as their own numbers. Greg and Ben in return wanted to try their Flamenco on. Bobby knew better. Dance A-Roma Fusion Finale at The Rocks 2006. Video by Tristan Baker, BAM Studios. #mothertongue

22.01.2022 'Diamonds' is the rhythm-based system that Greg Sheehan shared during our NORPA exchange. I asked if we could try it with traditional rhythms, Greg said he'd never explored Diamonds with traditional rhythms so I was a bit chuffed! And it worked! Many of the danced scores in Mother Tongue use Diamonds, not only to traditional rhythms but also prime numbers. With Greg's permission, here's some our work and fun at NORPA in 2008. #mothertongue

21.01.2022 Karen Kerkhoven is an accomplished artist and dancer who joined us and documented the work and processes using her unique skills, we were able to see the movement in a 2D form. #mothertongue

21.01.2022 Tristan Baker is the other hero by the camera in Mother Tongue. His sensibility for Dance is so accurate that barely a word needs to be said before any shoot, no rehearsal or briefing. His instinct to follow and anticipate the narrative that unfolds before us is uncanny. Tristan Baker and Shane Rozario are family members now. They watch with eagle eyes, the dancers in the full motion but secretly loving the live music.... ;) #mothertongue

21.01.2022 And so it begins...... an artistic journey over 15 years made in collaboration with over 40 artists from across Australia, Singapore, India, Malaysia and UK. Welcome everyone! This new page will share the stories, images, videos, concepts, developments, research and successes of this wholly unique work since 2005. The timing for this work is now. Please feel free to share. I'd love to hear your experiences and thoughts as an artist, audience, supporter and grow the community that has supported in the making of this work along the way.

21.01.2022 In 2012, the Mother Tongue journey continued with the dance, music and geometries coming together. New cast members were Lucky Lartey and Miranda Wheen. Lucky offered many of his Ghanian vocal and rhythmic patterns, which were a beautiful addition not to mention his amazing dancing! Miranda offered her subtle and fluid style of contemporary dance that helped me to realise my vision about to incorporate western dance into this work. #MotherTongue

21.01.2022 Vocal scores with north Indian bols and Tongan numbers and phonetics. Bobby, Latai and Shruti concentrating really hard to deliver this complex score in the creative development sharing in 2011. #mothertongue

17.01.2022 [2013] Patterns and sacred geometries were the main focus at Bundanon. How we moved through the space in a more structured way and how this related to the themes, using triangle, weave, helix, flocking and free improvisation. This was not about creating clever movement material nor exploring cultural material, it was all the great minds that helped me to work out many spacial unknowns. #mothertongue

15.01.2022 The chance to share my processes at Bundanon set the foundations for how I have worked each time in development. Using phrases and processes as warm up tools and learning from the dancers about what worked and what didn't was invaluable for my growth as a choreographer. #mothertongue

15.01.2022 [2012] Contemporary dance was like the glue that allowed the dance artists to infuse cultural elements of their respective forms into holisitc phrases that could have an aesthetic cohesion. The spiral phrase in act 3 uses breath as the meter, whereby each dancer moves through the phrase in their own time and breath patterns. #mothertongue

15.01.2022 I met artist/architect/dancer Saranjit Birdi from Birmingham, whilst I was in Madrid. Saranjit helped me to consolidate ideas that were emerging around systems from an architectural pov triangles for ancient pyramids, squares for urban buildings and spirals as the most natural form of geometry but inherently the most difficult to work with architecturally. He also introduced me to the Double Helix as another natural geometry that was integrated into the work. Special thanks to the legendary, Piali Ray who introduced Saranjit and myself in 2011. #mothertongue IMAGES All rights reserved. Saranjit Birdi.

15.01.2022 Our MT journey continued in 2013. Two weeks at Bundanon was an unexpected gift. I needed to find a way to continue the work, so the first week was spent preparing tasks and concepts with Geraldine Balcazar and Karen Kerkhoven and I decided to put a call out for dancers to join us for the second week. Cloé Fournier, Tim Crafti, Maud Leger, Michael Pappalardo and Lucky Lartey joined us with Chris Verheyden on camera and our very own chef! It was an incredible team to collaborate with. We danced in and out of the studio, took bush walks, shared Easter eggs, meals and bonded with some great memories. #MotherTongue

15.01.2022 Geometry started to inspire the work as the key element of Design. Beginning with diamonds and triangles shapes inspired by Diamonds, I imagined floor patterns for the dancers too. I looked at squares, circles and sacred geometries. Sacred geometries are called this because of the infinite possibilities to be multiplied to create beautiful structures and designs, for example in the Moorish architecture of Spain. In Mother Tongue, theyre used as floor patterns for choreography and conceptually how they exist in nature as unseen systems. #mothertongue

14.01.2022 Difficult and hard conversations ended this phase of Mother Tongue in 2012. Politics, cultural appropriation and aesthetics of the work were important to talk about so everyone felt they had agency in the work. By the end of this development the team decided to disband and a whole new journey for the work began. #mothertongue

13.01.2022 Italian Mathematican, Fibonacci (1202) introduced the HinduArabic numeral system to use for book keeping, accounting and calculating interest. The Golden Mean uses the 'Fibonacci sequence' to explain how nature grows, for example, in shells, flowers and the ratios of human physiology. His work had a profound impact on European thought, but in fact the sequence had been described by Indian mathematicians as early as the sixth century. :) Greg and Bobby improvise on the sequence and Latai offers a movement improv, walking into the future, bringing our past with us. #mothertongue

13.01.2022 2013 was an important phase for the work but also for me taking more leadership of the creative vision of Mother Tongue. These Bundanon artists deserve greatest of thanks for their time and talent and I sincerely hope that one day I can share this work with the world, for which they will always be a part of it. Here are some of my fav shots by Chris and Gerry #mothertongue

13.01.2022 A highlight project during these early years was this gig with Circle of Rhythm and about 45 dancers and musicians in a whole day of live percussion, music and dance. It was raining heavily that whole week but on the day, the sun came out until about 3pm, just after this FUSION FINALE ended with the lead dancers, musos and Ben, Bobby and Greg. Huge kudos to Ben Walsh for getting me this amazing gig to direct and produce!!! The Rocks Aroma Coffee Festival 2006. #mothertongue

12.01.2022 "There are too many good things happening in this work, and no ONE can keep US DOWN!!!! We should call the piece Revolution! I look forward to creating some beautiful works with you again, so please count me in." [Bobby Singh 2007] Resistance happens. The story of "Mother Tongue" is laced with politics. Using cultures, not using cultures and me on a mission trying to shift the framework around cultural dance as being just as worthy of funding support as contemporary practices.... Tolerance was low and many curators said it might be 'old fashioned' and 'unsophisticated'. But we draw our strength to continue from the artists, who ultimately know better. Thanks Bobby for this gem! This pic was during some research at Critical Path in 2007 with Claudia Chambers on cajon. Bobby talks about his work and the importance of explorations like this. #MotherTongue

12.01.2022 Costumes were designed by Tobhiyah Feller, who created a beautiful palette colours and textures using the cultural designs of each dancer to create consistency across the work. The minimal budget allowed for simplicity but it works. #MotherTongue #costumedesign SketchesTobhiyahFeller

11.01.2022 Cultural exchange begins with protocol and Albert David explains the purpose of welcome and welcoming, which is key to every good human exchange and fundamental to Indigenous culture. Research is not about mounting ideas for the show, but about the questions behind the ideas. For example, how can we maintain integrity of the original forms in the process of coming together? This meant lots of talking and asking of questions that dont always need or have an answer. 2011 Res...earch at Critical Path happened after a good 6 years! Video: Albert David and Greg Sheehan #mothertongue

11.01.2022 We launch our Community Workshops program in just over a week and to finalise this we're looking for the final stretch of $70 for the fundraising to pay the artists to deliver! Please share or give if you can. All donations over $2 are Tax Deductible. https://australianculturalfund.org.au/projec/mother-tongue/

11.01.2022 One of the unsung heroes behind the camera of Mother Tongue is Shane Rozario. An amazing photographer, his eye for art and emotion and the power of the work and performers has produced the most compelling images that have been used again and again drawing people into the world and the narrative of this unique piece of dance theatre. #mothertongue Shane Rozario

10.01.2022 [2008] Initial seeds funds for the project came from NORPA and WSDA. Julian Louis and Kathy Bayktich supported an artist exchange for Greg Sheehan and myself to explore what we could do together. We also worked with five generous local dancers and actors who agreed to be bodies for us. We created duets and group phrases from the body percussion patterns and later in the process we explored a narrative-based scene using the rhythms, dance movement and actor intentions which added to the dynamic quality of the rhythms and overall ease of telling a story through movement and sound. Julian Louis was a great outside eye and really supported an environment for a successful exploration and laboratory. Thanks to Phll Blackman and Serena Joy. Please help me identify the others here in the video, if you know who they are! #mothertongue

10.01.2022 Albert David and I met on country in 2005 when we were asked to deliver workshops to remote schools and communities in far north NSW. He taught the kids Thursday Island rhythms and it inspired me to want to work with body percussion; connecting with mother earth and the sound of the body. We jammed at Casula Powerhouse until I could raise some funds for us to do a residency or research but it took another 6 years before we got back in the studio together and he hung in there all that time. Albert you're a true legend. #mothertongue

09.01.2022 "Babel" was the working title for a few years and references the myth/legend/story of the Tower of Babel and the confusion of languages. Languages are key to this work. Language is in our bodies, hands, feet and tongues. Oral traditions, movement, and in traditional rhythms there are knowledges passed down. Vocal sounds through syllables, phonemes, bols, gibberish and words were explored. Some of the many languages introduced into the process were Tongan numbers by Latai Tau...moepeau and north Indian music bols by Bobby Singh and Shruti Ghosh. #MotherTongue

08.01.2022 The arc of the work came together in a clear linear journey over 3 acts beginning in the present, moving to the past and ending in deep time. The future (4th act) would not arrive for a few more years! ;) A short duet by Albert and Greg heralded each act like a prologue of what was to come, here's the first one - war. #mothertongue

08.01.2022 Music composition was bravely taken up by percussionist, Tim Foley. He had the big job of getting six dancers musically, vocally and rhythmically in sync, creating sound compositions for three acts that explored urban, earthly and ethereal worlds plus re-mounting the diamond compositions that Bobby Singh and Greg Sheehan had gifted us. Tim also had to sound engineer himself but before we knew how big this job was, it was already over. Tim’s sound design was beautiful. #MotherTongue #sounddesign #percussion PhotoShane Rozario

08.01.2022 An important question was how can we explore cross-pollination of movement vocabulary, how might the dance forms can come together using contemporary dance as the glue in an organic process with respect to cultural material and protocols. There was feedback about moving away from the Diamonds system as a choreographic tool. Latai Taumoepeau expresses how Diamonds compromised aspects of the cultural rhythms and dances at times, so we had to find ways to adapt. Someone sugg...ested to explore other methods, like that of choreographer William Forsythe. I chose not to as I felt it would inevitably not relate back to the core research questions around authenticity and reasons for coming together. I didnt have a process for bringing dance and movement together at that stage. But years later I developed my own process DanceDNA. Sharing at Critical Path 2011 with guest, Richard Allen and dance artist, Latai Taumoepeau. #mothertongue #dancedna

08.01.2022 Thanks to everyone that has been supporting this new page and the work so far. We have raised 15% of funds now! A huge shout out of GRATITUDE to Kathy Baykitch, Valerie Berry, Katrina Douglas, Lisa Maris McDonnell, Peter & Fiona Piggott, Fiona Press, Charles Solomon, Martha Waugh, Shauna Wilson, Marisa Yeo and the Adés Family Foundation for all their generous support. If you want to donate or know someone that might, you can share the link below or via the 'Learn More' butto...n on this page. https://australianculturalfund.org.au/projec/mother-tongue/ See more

08.01.2022 Thanks everyone for following. The mother tongue story is ... big.

07.01.2022 Our first creative development saw us build the narrative arc in three acts, in which a game of chess, a conversation of languages and a series of phrases built on a triangle structures were created and performed at the showing. Each of these densely layered scores took days to build and finesse. The team continued in 2011; pictured here are Latai, Bobby, Greg and myself. Shruti and Albert were also part of this 2011 development at UNSW's black box. #mothertongue

06.01.2022 This new stage included responsive light design by Toby Knyvett. Toby and I shared excitement for new technology that has purpose and meaning with dance beyond spectacular FX. The geometric floor patterns were transformed with his wonderful light and ingenious coding. Chess became a computer game, the pentagram used a tracking light and ‘Armageddon’ used visual mosaic patterns that morphed and rotated. I particularly loved the effect of masking the heads of the cast, humans became bodies and articles of flotsam and jetsam in the sound and light scape. #MotherTongue #technology #lightdesign

06.01.2022 Deep traditions from Ghana and Australia. Albert and Lucky explored their animal totems in dance. There was lots of discussion about how an animal like the 'monkey' might be perceived by broader white audiences and could reflect negatively on the artists. We chose not to do this in the end, even though the artists themselves were comfortable playing these traditonal animal totems in the studio. #mothertongue

05.01.2022 Wow. A beautiful memory just popped up with the twins! Happy birthday Lucky Lartey and Aletta Aditya !

05.01.2022 Chess was one of the first pieces of history to influence the narrative structures of Mother Tongue. Arabic kings of Spain would play chess to sharpen their war strategies. It origintes in India and came to Spain by way of Persia. I decided to use Chess to explore war and rather than drawing on current events, to use this as an abstract visual of war. Each dancer plays the game using numbers that determine how they play; attack, defend, find allies to create floor patterns a...nd shift emotional dynamic. In modern chess, the powerful queen is believed to be modelled after Queen Isabella of Spain who ruled along side her husband King Ferdinand. Isabella is known for her achievements in uniting Spain and transforming it into an international power. However, she is also remembered for instituting the Spanish inquisition and the oppression of Jews and Muslims in Spain. This combination of strategic genius and cold hearted destruction led to the dominating power of the chess queen in modern chess which was first known as "Queen's" chess. Pictured: Bobby Singh and Albert David working out the rules of the game. [2011] #MotherTongue

04.01.2022 This week we launch registration for our FREE Mother Tongue Community Workshops at Blacktown Arts and Bankstown Arts Centre in November. There are 3 blocks of workshops facilitated by professional visual and performing artists. How do we come together with different languages, migration and ancestral stories? Let’s chat, write, draw, dance, make collage, take photos and create how we want to see Australia in the future together! Register now. https://fb.me/e/4UJz2xFq6 Photo credit: Shane Rozario Thanks to our partners SSI Ability Links NSW & STARTTS. #MotherTongue

04.01.2022 [2014] Mother Tongue was realised on stage as a pilot presentation at Bangarra Dance Theatre studios, Wharf 4. August-September 2014 saw a new cast working fiercely to bring the work to fruition in a short 2.5 weeks. It was a record production. With only half the funds from Arts NSW, I had no idea how I was going to pay them all. We started a crowd funding campaign, which barely scratched the surface. Out of the blue, Bangarra’s corporate accounts team decided to cut 2 hours of every workday in the studio, so we lost 10 hours a week and ended up rehearsing in the café. Despite all the obstacles, jumping through production hoops and minimal funds, the premiere was 45 minutes of gold. It was hard to know how it was going to be received, but it was gold. #MotherTongue

02.01.2022 Conversation is so important and we had the chance to talk a lot during the two weeks and at the end with David sharing the process and how important it was to be at #Bundanon #mothertongue

02.01.2022 Hybridism exists as a result of functionality, the necessity to communicate, share information, trade goods or tell stories. This was one of the most critical discoveries and questions related to authenticity and processes emerged fully with more time of course we would have been able to explore from different vantage points; going deeper into cross fertilising movement vocabulary, using rhythm as our common language. Daniel Kok talking about what is 'cultural' at Critical Path sharing in 2011. #mothertongue

01.01.2022 Cultural and ancestral dance comes with responsibilities and sensitivities. Every day conversation is necessary. We talk to one another, the musicians and also to ourselves, our elders, peers and communities and ancestors. #mothertongue

01.01.2022 [2006] Understanding rhythm through the lens of maestros Bobby Singh and Ben Walsh meant there was no escaping the infinite possibilities of exploring all kinds of rhythms through all my works over the years. And they told me I should also meet a guy named Greg Sheehan. That finally happened a year later and I knew instantly that Albert David and Greg Sheehan had to meet but that was still to be another 5 years away. Greg's body percussion systems run throughout the entire Mother Tongue work. Compositional ideas are improvised on the hang, drum kit, cajon and electronically. Greg's legacy is foremost in sixteen of the dance scores. #mothertongue