Wirntiki (The Stone Curlew) - 2021
2021 Milpirri - Yinapaka
Wirntiki (The Stone Curlew)
Description of Dance
This dance carries the message “be careful if playing with fire as you might get burned’. Wirntiki is trying to convince the little birds it can fly higher than the Mamangirri, but Wirntiki gets burnt playing with fire. The dance uses a canon concept and uses arm movements to fly but retracts as the wings get burned. A large circle is formed to create the fire and the red group (representing Wirntiki) tries to pass the fire through the circle to the other birds. The dancers roar to emulate the Mamangirri’s roar and all the birds scatter as they are unable to fly high because of their burnt wings.
*Milpirri 2021 was reimagined to suit the current COVID circumstances. The dance in this video is from a showing at Lajamanu school. They are not complete dances.
Choreography
Original Choreography: Madeleine Brown and Jordan Bretherton
Adapted: Stephanie Spillett, Bec Reid
Wirntiki (Stone Curlew) Banner
If Stone-curlews are nearby you may hear their eerie, high-pitched wailing at night.
Wirntiki (Stone Curlew) story as told by Steve Jampijinpa Patrick
Wirntiki says “I can teach you to fly. I flew over the Mumingirri (Two Monsters/Devils). We fly higher than the rocks and boomerangs they threw at us, they cannot reach us.” Someone said – “yes you can do that and you can fly at night too. But you stole fire from someone and played around. You were so silly that you flew with the fire and it burned your wings and you fell to the ground. Fire is important, don’t muck around with it.”
Story from Mungularrpa