Lajamanu Community

September 19th 2024 (TBC)

An ongoing artistic and cultural partnership between Lajamanun Community and Tracks Dance

Drawn from the radical 30-year collaboration between the Lajamanu Community and Tracks Dance Company, Milpirri links the energy of youth and the wisdom of the old, gaining a better understanding of Western and Warlpiri ways of learning.

COVID-19 strongly affected the remote community of Lajamanu. With compulsory bio-zone status, little could go in or out. The community lost many of its Elders, the holders and drivers of Warlpiri culture. After bringing the Milpirri Sensorium to the Darwin Festival in 2023, we return to Lajamanu (North Tanami Desert) with a multimedia event. Stunning visual banners, extraordinary archival film footage, live performances from Senior dancers, and a youth dance component that re-envisions Warlpiri knowledge transference from stories of Birds around Yinapaka.

Lajamanu is situated on the northern edge of the Tanami Desert. The Milpirri performance is radically local and is performed by and for the Wrlpiri people. Lajamanu is not a gazetted township and such does not have resources for housing visitors.

Watch out for more details as this project develops

Creative Team

Creative Director: Wanta (Steve) Jampijinpa Patrick
Senior Elder: Jerry Jangala Patrick
Artistic Directors: David McMicken and Tim Newth
Music: Mark Peckham (Monkey Marc), and Rob Tremlett (Mantra)
Multimedia: Duane Preston
Choreographers and Youth Leaders: Steph Spillett, Bec Reid
Performers: Lajamanu Community Youth and Elders

Company Partners

Tracks Inc is proudly sponsored by the Northern Territory Government.

Project Partner

Proudly Supported by Newmont International through their Community Investment Program, and the Northern Territory Government

Tracks 2024

Artistic Director: David McMicken
Company Director: Sean Pardy
Associate Artistic Director: Jess Devereux
Production Manager: Duane Preston
Creative Producer: Britt Guy
Dance Animateurs: Kelly Beneforti and Steph Spillett
Administrator: Debbie Micairan
Bookkeeper: It Figures
Auditors: Brian Tucker Audit

Committee Members: Chairperson: Max Dewa Stretton. Treasurer: Glenn Bernardin. Ordinary Members: Andrea Wicking, David Taylor, Lachlan Peattie, Rachael Wallis, Anna Lindsay, Venaska Cheliah. Ex-Officio: David McMicken, Sean Pardy