"Dancing with the stars" - astronomy and music in the Torres Strait

Abstract

Song and dance are a traditional means of strengthening culture and passing knowledge to successive generations in the Torres Strait of northeastern Australia. Dances incorporate a range of apparatuses to enhance the performance, such as dance machines (Zamiyakal) and headdresses (Dhari). The dances, songs, headdresses and dance machines work together to transfer important knowledge about subsistence survival, social structure, and cultural continuity. This paper explores how celestial phenomena inspire and inform music and dance.

The Inspiration of Astronomical Phenomena: Proceedings of the INSAP IX Conference, edited by Nicholas Campion and Chris Impey. Lampeter: Sophia Centre Press, 2016