Supporting the Bellingen Global Carnival in reducing our carbon foot print with their portable solar power station.

Espiritu Santo is the place where this tradition continues to live and thrive. Dressed in traditional costumes of flowers and leaves, women wade into water up to their waist, stand in a crescent formation and begin to play. The water is beaten in a rhythmic dance of bodies and waves and the sound is extraordinary. Water becomes the instrument when a wide range of sounds and intoxicating rhythms are produced.

With pieces entitled, “The Sound of Thunder”, the music evokes the sounds of thousands of years of ancestors, environment and culture. Sometimes it is simply the sound of the water, other times it is accompanied by song but always it is the rhythms that dominate. The sounds and songs reproduced are the sounds of life and renewal; washing, bathing and collecting shellfish. The crescent the women stand in reflects the way they have worked at the water’s edge or in rivers for millennia, performing the work of their families. They interweave the past completely with the present and dreams of the future.

This is women’s music, celebrating life and family, nature and ocean and this will be a rare glimpse into an ancient but living tradition.

Reviews

“One of the most extraordinary and moving performances I have ever seen. The rhythms and sounds the women made from the water seemed to come from another time and place entirely” - Systa bb RRR

Joining them is Merryn who will be presenting her delightful tissue act, “Reflection”, a graceful and moving performance over in the Trapeze area.

Joining them is Merryn who will be presenting her delightful tissue act, “Reflection”, a graceful and moving performance over in the Trapeze area.

Joining them is Merryn who will be presenting her delightful tissue act, “Reflection”, a graceful and moving performance over in the Trapeze area.