Garrigarrang Badu
by Peta Strachan
Garrigarrang Badu: where the salt water meets the fresh water. With its World Premiere at Sydney Opera House in Sydney Festival 2026, this thrilling, large-scale, First Nations dance work in Dharug language features an all-female cast, created and choreographed by Dharug woman and Jannawi Dance Clan Artistic Director Peta Strachan.
Production Photography by Stephen Wilson Barker & Moogahlin Performing Arts
"This work started from our need for new compositions in our language. It has developed into a major dance work and song cycle about Dharug culture, ancient and contemporary, and the beauty of our country where freshwater meets salt water. Learning to sing in Dharug has made our spirits stronger."
ABOUT THE SHOW
Garrigarrang Badu invites audiences to bear witness to the strength, resilience, and power of the Dharug Matriarch. Garrigarrang (meaning salt water) and Badu (fresh water) tells the stories of Dharug country which spans from the mountains to the sea, where the fresh water meets the salt water.
Garrigarrang Badu draws on a fusion of contemporary and traditional choreographic and music forms, each portraying the lives of Dharug women living off the land; offering a deep exploration of healing and spiritual connection. Together, they celebrate mother earth and her many gifts, providing modern audiences an ancestral awareness of connection to country and spiritual journey back to land & culture - of healing & connection.
In elevating and amplifying female voices and narratives, Garrigarrang Badu plays homage to the intrinsic role women played in shaping, enriching and enshrining the Dharug nation over millennia. This work plays a vital role in the future and continuation of Dharug songlines, language, stories, dance and passing on of knowledge.
about JANNAWI DANCE CLAn
Jannawi Dance Clan is a First Nations intergenerational dance collective based in Western Sydney. Founded in 2008 by Artistic Director Peta Strachan, Jannawi meaning ‘with me, with you’ in Dharug language, centres on Indigenous storytelling through dance and performance, embodied language revitalisation, traditional movement and new forms.
Jannawi celebrates the strength, resilience and stories of Aboriginal people in NSW. Community, identity and culture are strong values in their practice with a large commitment to revitalise language and heighten the voices of Darug peoples and histories. Jannawi is the only Sydney dance group led by Dharug custodians and community. Jannawi performs and teaches to inspire other Indigenous people to practise cultural values and identities. Committed to honour and share knowledge, they encourage awareness and understanding of the world’s oldest living Indigenous culture.
Jannawi has a rich artistic body of critical, relevant work & is highly regarded. They are regularly called on to represent Dharug culture at prestigious First Nations and mainstream cultural events including; the 16th Annual Coastal Dance Festival 2023 in Canada; 22nd Biennale of Sydney presented by the MCA; Dance Rites at the Sydney Opera House; FIFA Women's World Cup 2023; Sydney Festival 2020; Fire Fight Australia; ANZ Stadium; as well as regular ceremony performances for Survival Day - Yabun Festival and Wagan-ma-gule, Morning Ceremony at Sydney’s Botanical Gardens.
about PETA STRACHAN
Peta Strachan is a Dharug woman from the Boorooberongal Clan, she has been working in the performance space for 35 years as a multi-disciplinary dancer. During Strachan’s career she has danced with Bangarra, performed for the 2000 Sydney Olympic opening and closing ceremonies and has performed around the country. Strachan is the Artistic Director of Jannawi Dance Clan and freelances as a dancer, choreographer, teacher, and costume maker. Dharug culture is at the centre of everything Strachan creates, and she has dedicated years of work to creating one of Australia’s most renowned Matriarchal dance clans. Alongside Julie Jones and Chris Tobin, she is a member of ACE’s Dharug Knowledge Holders Group.
about FORM DANCE PROJECTS
Championing Local Voices in Global Communities, FORM Dance is the leading producer and presenter of Australian independent contemporary dance in Western Sydney. They are an artist-lead organisation, operating with highly experienced leadership team of Paul Selwyn Norton as Creative Director and Naomi Hibberd as Creative Producer. As festival directors, producers and pedagogues they bring their entrepreneurial expertise and global connectivity to the local NSW dance sector.
Production photography credit: Stephen Wilson Barker
Ready to Tour
If you are interested in touring get in contact!
Arts on Tour
02 8038 1880
touring@artsontour.com.au
Arts on Tour is based in Redfern NSW and we respectfully acknowledge the Gadigal people as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the unceded land on which we work.
As we tour artists and productions across these vast lands, we pay our respect to all First Nations Elders, past, present and future.
We celebrate their continuing connection and contribution to culture, country and community, and thank all First Nations peoples for their wisdom in caring for the land, the sky, the rivers and the sea.