Elma Kris explores her long-standing relationship with Bangarra

Peggy Misi and I did a contemporary dance piece to represent Torres Strait Islander culture. We did a rhythm dance (a dance without language but plenty of rhythm) to represent all Torres Strait people because the Torres Strait Islands have different languages and different styles of dance. We said, "Why don’t we use elements from the five regions and make it into one rhythm dance?" We incorporated movements from the top western, lower western, eastern, central islands and the tip of Cape York (Bamaga). We wanted to be one tribe even though we speak different languages. We wanted to represent all of the Torres Strait, not just ourselves.

Peggy became a cultural advisor for me with language, song and dance. I grew up on Thursday Island and my mother didn’t speak much of her language. I would only get to see my parents performing, singing and dancing, when we would go to ceremonies. As children we’d sit and watch. Now I had to learn all these traditional songs and dances, how to play the drums and how to perform all this.

It was overwhelming to see the Olympic Opening Ceremony. Normally a male would have been asked to represent the Islands through dance and song but this time the women did it. We choreographed that work under my auntie’s house in Cairns. We had to come up with a name quickly before we went to the schools to start teaching it to the kids! We called it Aumuller because that’s the name of the street where my auntie lives and that was our rehearsal space.

I did a contemporary version of a ‘fish scoop’ dance based on a weris – a traditional Murray Island fishing trap. I called this section 'Wind-raising'. I wanted it to look like the young boys were learning how to use the weris. You have to hit the water with a stick which makes the sardines scatter, then scoop the fish up quickly with the weris.

'Harvesting' explores how the women go gardening. I was inspired by this way of life and the funny little things they do, like a shuffle on the bum to shift around, and the way they tell yarns in language and laugh under the hot sun.

Murray Island has many myths, legends and artefacts. This was a fascination for the first settlers and many artefacts were taken to London for cultural displays and packed away and stored for preservation. Depending on the situation, some objects were traded, some given and some taken. I go to museums and explore the archives and books. I’ve had to travel all the way to London to discover parts of my culture, my history.

When I tour with Bangarra I always carry a few key books on my Island culture. These resources are a sounding board for me, they are a reflection of me and my culture and also a driver of this culture. Our culture is living and ever evolving and these books illustrate where we have come from and we write the pages of where we are going. These books have been my travel companions all around the world.