Murgon State High School embraces traditional culture as their Taring Wangun dance group opens Creative Generation and their 2024 Arts Night.
The Taring Wangun dance group is made up of Murgon SHS students who are of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent, with the aim of inspiring the younger generations to reconnect with their culture.
This dance group made up of dedicated students had the honour of opening this year’s Creative Generation for the sixth year in a row, starting this tradition with their first performance in 2019.
For this year’s Creative Generation piece, the students had their piece choreographed by Mitchell Curie from Nalingurrie Productions, with the performance centered around the NAIDOC theme, “Keep the fire burning”.
Taring Wangun translates to “strong spirit” in the Wakka Wakka Indigenous language, and every student showcased this trait in their performance.
The performance paid tribute to the Wave Hill Walk-Off and Vincent Lingiari’s ongoing fight for the rights and freedoms of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
From Little Things, Big Things Grow was the name of the piece the students performed, and was an opportunity for a deep reflection of their journey so far.
The week of Creative Generation was long and filled with hard work, but it was worth it, as the students delivered a heartfelt and moving performance.
The group has come a long way from where it began back in 2019, with Murgon High’s first piece, Rations and Domestics, performed by a small group of Murgon State High School students, to now, with their 2024 performance which incorporated 100 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students from approximately eight schools across Queensland.
All these students took to the stage to tell this powerful story.
This year, the students were given the unique opportunity to perform alongside the Australian Idol winner and Creative Generation alumnus, Royston Sagigi-Baira, performing his new song, Dreaming.
The standards were high and the students rose to the occasion with hard work and pride.
The Murgon community was given the chance to see this wonderful performance, though adapted to incorporate less members, as the Taring Wangun dancers opened the Murgon SHS 2024 Arts Night on 12 September, giving the audience a chance to see and experience the dance before its TV premiere on Channel 9 at 2pm on Sunday, 17 November.
