A powerful celebration of First Nations stories, totemic connections, and the sacred resilience of Country.
18–21 Sep
Baleen Moondjan draws deeply on the knowledge and yarning
Stephen Page inherited from his Nunukul/Nughi mother; the practice of blending sacred understanding with contemporary music and dance, which he innovated with his brothers David and Russell Page at Bangarra Dance Theatre; and his own ongoing journey to live cultural knowledge in an authentic and sustaining way.
Told in English and Jandai language, supervised by language custodian Donna Page, this is a story that celebrates in ceremony and song the sacred relationship of First Nations people to their totems and country, acknowledging the cycle of life and the certainty of death as a rhythm of immense beauty.
From an early scene where we see Gindara and Nundigili gathering kelp as a ritual of strength and resilience, to a central scene where the great baleen whale is called in and celebrated, to the final scenes where Gindara’s spirit passes away to travel with her magnificent cetacean totem, Baleen Moondjan aims to joyfully recognise the wonder of our shared environments and of the precious connection to land, sea and sky.
The cycle of life and the certainty of death as a rhythm of immense beauty.
Performed on an outdoor stage on the Brisbane River under an astonishing set reminiscent of a whale skeleton, Stephen’s vision will move the cast of six superb dancers and six remarkable singers into the rhythm of the ocean and the resilience of the land and its people, despite the many poisons that could threaten this relationship.
Stephen Page and Alana Valentine
Whale totem of mine, carry my spirit
I will carry your spirit in my belly and heart Whale totem of mine, carry my joy
I will carry your joy till it bubbles the waves back to the shores of your offspring Whale totem of mine, ease me into death
I will ease you into a death that will allow your spirit to burst out like a water-softened seed,
like a pale green new seed smooth with promise and fat with hope
I will carry that nugget of you to a tiny bud of new birth a tiny baby stamping along the shoreline where this piece of person that I have carried will soak up into the soles and the soul of a new Moondjan carrier of country and sea
Scenes
SCENE 1
JUMUNYA NYAMBA
We smoke the present
SCENE 2
WALINGGA & WABUNGGA
Old woman and young sister
SCENE 3
GABALANYA
GULBURBIN
We cut marine grass / Kelp
SCENE 4
YUNMA JAGA
The sleep of death
SCENE 5
MAYALBANYA YURI
Awaken her totem
SCENE 6
YALINGBILLAR
The Big Whale
SCENE 7
WARANG WARANG
BIRIYINJILI
Gindara sings to whale
SCENE 8
MARAGUN BONGA
Old woman dies
SCENE 9
DUNGUNYA YANA
She weeps that she walks away
SCENE 10
GABILIWA
Telling into the future
SCENE 11
WARING GABING
The cold water
Jandai Language Glossary
Balga Come
Biram Sky
Biriyinjili Sing
Bogey Swim
Bonga Die
Bujal
Feel Sad/Sorry/Pity
Buruan South wind
Dabilyil Water
Dungunya Weep
Gabi Gabi Wind
Gabili West wind
Gowa No
Gowan Blood
Gulburbin Kelp
Gundu gundu Boobayn Medicine Tree
Gundu Medicine
Gung Poison
Guwumba Good
Gwumbi Shells
Jagun Country
Janjari Light
Jara Ground
Jumunya Nyamba We Smoke the Present
Kirba Wake up
Kunjeil Corroboree
Maragun Old woman
Mayalba Awake
Ngulli We
Nimbin North wind
Nyanga See
Wagari Carry
Walangara Long water
Walinga Old woman
Windjia East wind
Wiya Wiya Let go
Yallingbillar Big whale
Yana Go away
Yarabin Sea
Yunma Jaga
Sleep of death
Creatives
Director & Co-writer
Set Design
Composer & Sound Designer
Costume Design
Lighting Design
Musical Director
Cultural and Language Consultant
Assistant Director Beau
Gindara
Nundigili
Spirit of Yallingbillar Brendon
Narrator
Musicians Dance Ensemble
Jorjabelle Munday
Taj Pigram
Kiarn Doyle
Rika Hamaguchi
Gusta Mara
Acknowledgements
Glory Tuohy-Daniell
Baleen Moondjan was commissioned by the Adelaide Festival and premiered there in February 2024. Baleen Moondjan is produced by Soft Tread Enterprises.
Brisbane Festival Team
Artistic Director
CEO
Marketing and Communications Director
Director of Partnerships Fabienne
Program Director
Chief Financial Officer/Company Secretary
Technical Director Tim
Administration Manager
Justine Robins
Acknowledging the Brisbane Festival project team and the Queen’s Wharf Brisbane staff and crew who’ve contributed to the making and delivery of this work as part of the 2025 festival.