Turtle (Corroboree)

Rekindling (Charleville) perform Kasa Kab (play dance)

  • Torres Strait Islands
  • Choreography, Music, Stories, Songs & Language, Performance

Watch the Rekindling students from Charleville, Queensland, performing Kasa Kab. This work tells the story of the baby turtle hatchlings, starting out their journeys in life as they make their way from the nest to the big, wide ocean.

In 2018, Bangarra's Rekindling team headed to Charleville to engage with youth and Elders from the local community through the contemporary, physical practice of dance inspired by stories, culture and Country. These students also learnt the work Kasa Kab, a sit-down play dance originally choreographed by Cultural Consultant, Linguist, Composer, Choreographer and former Bangarra dancer Peggy Misi as a section of Bangarra's production Turtle (2001).

I created Kasa Kab for Turtle (2001). It was choreographed to be like the little turtles waddling down to the water after hatching from their eggs. The zig zag from the top of the stage coming down stage, that’s like the little turtles coming down and into the water before getting to the deep water. I created motifs of gently holding the baby turtles, of their flippers swimming and of letting them go into the water. These simple yet powerful gestures are a part of the story telling and sit with the words of the song.
Peggy Misi - 2018