Review by Clara Mills
Arts Hub
Formed in 2004 in their home community of Wurrumiyanga (Nguiu) in the Tiwi Islands, B2M is a six piece R n’ B pop band with traditional flavor. The band is comprised of young indigenous men who sing about the issues that effect their community and young people generally such as drugs, alcohol and suicide. B2M signature is vocal harmonizing with an R n B, hip hop edge.
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Review by Fiona Mackrell
Arts Hub
Standing amongst the shops and luxury hotels of the resort-like Darwin waterfront you imagine hearing the wail of sirens, the crashing of bombs, the distant voices reporting death and destruction in this very place, 19 February 1942, almost 70 years ago.
Review by Clara Mills
Arts Hub
How do you discuss the raw devastation of war? How do you explain the devastation of war with children?
When His Watch Stopped is an original children’s play about war by the Sadari Theatre Company. The Company was founded in 1988 with a vision to specialise in children’s drama. The company uses traditional play elements combined with puppetry and expressive body movement to help children improve their imagination and ability to express themselves.
August 18, 2010
Last night I saw a Tiwi Island show with a group of elderly women (with one or two middle aged and one young one) singing with young western musicians. The women were having so much fun - too chaotic to be termed a choir.
It was great - as part of the project the women had been to Canberra to check out the archives. There was film of a traditional dance from 1912 that no-one on Bathurst Island alive today had ever seen and some audio from the 50s. There was a huge group photo from the evacuation in WWII (like one of those whole school photos) taken in front of a plane. One of the old ladies was in it aged about 10 but had to be told it was her as she had never seen a photo of herself before or had a mirror (at the time) and had no idea what she looked like. What a mind blowing concept is that!
Lots of Tiwis in the audience major giggling from the kids and joining in from the adults. At one point 4 old gentlemen (they used the terminology - ladies and gentlemen - with curtseys and bows) got up and did two dances - impromptu. At the end the women made the musos go centre stage one by one (as each of the ladies had done) to dance and then cracked up laughing at them. At the end they went on and on dancing and singing - we are having fun and are just staying here - and ran over - till they were forced to wind up.
By Nanette Hunter
Nanette sent us this as she had emailed it to a friend earlier in the day. We thought that it captured some of the spirit of the Festival and Ngarukuruwala - We Sing Songs. - DF
Regina Kantilla says “…We don’t write things down like you mob. Our songs are our history books”.
By Trish Gaff
Read the full review by clicking the link above
By Bob Gosford
Barry Brown & the GetDown – the bastard children of Freddy Mercury and Dave Graney meet James Brown inna funkhouse!
There have been a few Barry Browns about in our time – there is the American playwright and actor that passed away in 1978 and then there is the Jamaican reggae singer, who also died young – but this is the story of Australia’s – no, Darwin’s – very own Barry Brown of Barry Brown and the Getdowns, an eight piece band that has been getting around a few (selective) traps in Darwin for the past few months.
