Heart and intent transcend a lack of technical finesse in new First Nations dance piece
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By Jill Sykes
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Campbelltown Arts Centre, January 20
Lyrebirds have a remarkable talent and inclination to imitate songs and sounds from the world around them. Jasmin Sheppard has used this as a symbol of First Nations Australians to feel the need to copy the looks, clothes and manners of colonial settlers – from then to now.
Jasmin Sheppard in The Complication of Lyrebirds
Credit:Samuel James
She and Kaine Sultan Babij are first seen in tan-coloured swimsuit-like costumes, stylishly ribbed but surely a representation of Indigenous people in their natural element. At their first encounter with settlers’ clothes, these are tied and wound around their waists like sashes. Later they struggle awkwardly to get into a dress and trousers.