A Kingaroy school-based girls’ dance troupe has started a new chapter in its decade-long history this year, welcoming in an entirely new cultural group.
The Sista Sista Indigenous Contemporary Dance Group at Kingaroy State High School has undergone a name change in 2025 as it introduced a contingent of Samoan students to its ranks, dropping ‘Aboriginal’ from its title in favour of the more encompassing ‘Indigenous’.
The group’s founder, KSHS community education counsellor Toni Phillips-Petersen, started the group as an Aboriginal dance collective around 2013 or 2014, when the eldest of her four daughters was studying at KSHS.
She drew on her own experience performing and touring South East Queensland with her siblings since she was 13-years-old.
Prior to starting the dance group, Ms Phillips-Petersen launched an Aboriginal girls’ social group at the school, which to this day sees students come together over lunch to engage in crafts and chats.
“I’m proud of myself for bringing this together, and I’m proud of the girls too,” Ms Phillips-Petersen said.
“They give up their lunch times, they give up plenty of their time to volunteer, and then perform in front of different groups and at different ceremonies.
“This is about bringing that pride out of their culture, saying it’s okay to showcase who you are and where you come from,” she added.
Sista Sista’s performance at the Kingaroy State High School Harmony Day in March this year resulted in roaring applause from the combined student body.
“It’s scary when you have to perform in front of your own peers – but they stood up with pride and danced. It was amazing,” Ms Phillips-Petersen said.
FRESH IDEAS JOIN THE GROUP
In the 2025 school year, the dance group counts around 15 students between Years 7 and 12 among its members – a new record according to its founder.
The boost in numbers can be attributed to the influx of several Samoan girls, whose dance performances at various events across the South Burnett amazed Ms Phillips-Petersen.
Malita and Renee are two of the group’s new Samoan members.
They recounted how Sista Sista’s founder came to ‘recruit’ them to the cause.
“Toni came to me after my [Samoan dance] performance at BaconFest [2024] and asked me to join so I can share my Samoan culture with the rest of the girls,” Malita said.
“The Sista Sista Dance Group did a dance during parade, and I really enjoyed watching it. I wanted to be a part of that,” Renee said of her reason for joining.
The two Year 9 students have already taken on a key role in the group, teaching its other members the intricacies of Samoan dance – an art form which they say stands apart from Australian First Nations dancing.
“Our [Samoan] dances are more slow and steady, and theirs are a bit faster,” Malita explained.
“The other girls find it a bit difficult to move their hands in a ‘Samoan’ way,” she added.
The pair are currently teaching their peers a second Samoan dance. In return, the pair get to learn about their fellows’ culture.
“It is challenging with the different moves and costumes, but that is building the girls’ relationships at school – we’re breaking down barriers between different cultures,” Ms Phillips-Petersen said of uniting Samoan and Aboriginal dancing in her group.
“I’m open to other nationalities coming together as well to showcase and share. It’s beautiful – it just makes you so proud when these girls perform.
“What I love the most is that these girls can go and showcase their dances at different cultural events and at different schools. They take this knowledge and pass it onto younger kids as well,” she added.
Sista Sista’s storytelling through dance has been in high demand across the region ever since its inception, Ms Phillips-Petersen explained; last year, members of the group held well-attended dance- and cultural workshops at the Kingaroy and Blackbutt State Schools.
To show their gratitude for the workshop, Kingaroy State School provided the group with new sarongs.
“The fact that in the South Burnett you can have a young, Indigenous girls’ group, people love seeing that,” Ms Phillips-Petersen said.
“There is a demand for that, because it is something new and fresh. It puts a smile on everyone’s face.
A SISTERHOOD AT SCHOOL
Xavira and Jahzara are also new to the Sista Sista Dance Group.
The two Year 7 students, both Aboriginal, have joined the troupe at the start of their journey at KSHS, with Xavira boasting some dancing experience owing to a similar performing group at her former school.
“We wanted to join because it means a lot to us that we get to embrace our Indigenous culture,” Xavira said of the pair’s motive for signing up with Sista Sista.
The two have already made great strides in both learning to dance and appreciating their ancestors’ culture.
“I’ve learned that there are different types of Indigenous dance costumes,” Jahzara explained.
“We’ve learned a lot about our culture and what it means to be Aboriginal, as well as about volunteering,” Xavira said.
“[Plus] we’re making friends with people that we didn’t know yet,” she added.
The pair said they were keen to continue working on their skills.
“We just want to participate and volunteer our time to dance,” Jahzara said.
“[The girls] are committed – and that’s what I love the most,” group coordinator Toni Phillips-Petersen said.
“They’re excited, they’re pumped to do the dancing.
“It’s a sisterhood coming together. Some of the girls don’t have that.
“Seeing the girls perform for the first time on Harmony Day, I had a tear in my eye,” she recounted.
“I just bring them together, but they’re the ones that are teaching each other, helping each other and building that friendship.
The Sista Sista Indigenous Contemporary Dance Group is getting ready to perform at several South Burnett schools during 2025’s NAIDOC Week, fresh off the back of starting a new routine in late May.
Ms Phillips-Petersen is also planning an excursion for the girls to see Bangarra Dance Theatre perform in August – a trip she is currently trying to raise funds for.
