Jo Clancy
wiiny-dha waganha nan-girra | 2024
wiiny-dha waganha nan-girra. @ North East Wiradjuri Cultural Centre
wiiny-dha waganha nan-girra - we make fire and dance together - is a window into Wiradjuri cultural exchange and sharing at Ganguddy. A film by Jo Clancy in collaboration with Gus Armstrong, Emma Syme and the Kandos/Rylstone Aboriginal community.
bio:
Jo Clancy is a First Nations Choreographer, Dancer, Teacher and Mentor. A Wiradjuri woman from Western NSW, Jo was raised and still lives in Darug and Gundungurra Country in the Blue Mountains with her family. Jo has worked as an Independent Artist nationally and internationally for thirty-five years. She founded her dance collective Wagana in 2007 and works extensively in Aboriginal communities across Wiradjuri, Dharug and Gundungurra Country. Jo’s latest productions and collaborations include birrirra bandhung which premiered at Cementa22, Wurimbirra - to take care, which toured to Whistler in Canada in 2022, Yindyang Bila for the Blue Mountains Cultural Centre exhibition WATER” in 2022 and Mawambul - all together, for the Coastal Dance Festival in Canada 2023. Jo is currently collaborating with Gawura Cultural Immersions on Warriwal which premiered at the Blue Mountains Theatre in April 2024.
statement:
I’m a Wiradjuri woman born to Dharug Country. My dance collective Wagana, which means ‘dancing now’ in Wiradjuri language and has a strong female focus. I didn’t have opportunities to learn my language, my songs or cultural dances growing up and I’m committed to making positive, real and lasting change to the lives of Aboriginal women and girls through dance and cultural connection. We all need to feel strong and safe in culture, to know who we are and how we connect. My practice holds, supports and lifts others, it is a gradual, continuous spiral that allows people to enter and exit. When I walk and dance softly in Country, place my bare feet on the ground and sit low in my hips, I connect with a matriarchal strength, grace and perception that comes from an embodied knowing.
North East Wiradjuri Cultural Centre
A film by Jo Clancy in collaboration with Gus Armstrong, Emma Syme and the Kandos/Rylstone Aboriginal community.
