Jo spoke to Create NSW about what drives her artistic practice and why connection to Country is essential in her work.
Under the Madhan by Jo Clancy Photo courtesy of Sydney Festival
“I’m committed to making positive, real and lasting change to the lives of Aboriginal women and girls through dance and cultural connection.”Choreographer, dancer, teacher and mentor, Jo Clancy
A descendant of the Wiradjuri people of Western NSW, Jo Clancy is a First Nations choreographer, dancer, mentor and teacher who lives in Gundungurra and Dharug Country in the Blue Mountains.
Jo commenced her full-time dance training at NAISDA Dance College in 1990 and then went on to Western Sydney University where she became the first Aboriginal person to gain a Bachelor of Arts in Dance in NSW. Jo was Head of Dance at NAISDA Dance College from 2005-2007 and Head of Cultural Practice from 2020-2023.
She founded her company Wagana Aboriginal Dancers in 2007. The Wagana Aboriginal Dancers perform traditional and contemporary dances inspired by the beautiful Blue Mountains and NSW Central West country. They honour and respect the Dharug, Gundungurra and Wiradjuri peoples as the traditional custodians of the lands they dance in.
Jo has spent three decades developing contemporary Aboriginal dance works and education projects across Australia and internationally in festivals and major events in Glasgow, Copenhagen, Hawaii and Vancouver.
She makes dance with and for her community as a legacy for the continuation of NSW Aboriginal dance and storytelling. Her practice draws upon her connection to people and place.
As a choreographer, dancer, teacher, and mentor, you draw on your connection to people and place. Why are you inspired to explore these aspects of your life in your work?
So many of us live with the intergenerational trauma of our parents, our grandparents and our great grandparents being denied our languages, our songs, our dances, and ceremonies. The impact of colonisation is ongoing and as an Aboriginal woman born into this legacy I live with and am impacted by colonial trauma. It’s often unseen, it’s not always felt and I don’t allow it to consume me, but it is present and I acknowledge its presence.
In a world where we expect immediacy in so many ways, where we have access to new and ever-changing technology, connection to Country and to each other is vital. It allows us to slow down, to be patient, to understand ourselves and others more deeply.
When I walk and dance softly in Country, place my bare feet on the ground and sit low in my hips I connect with a matriarchal strength, grace and perception that comes from an embodied knowing. I hold gestures and memories from my grandmothers, my great grandmothers and all of the great women who have come before me.
In 2007 you founded the Indigenous Dance company Wagana Aboriginal Dancers. Tell us about the origins of the company and how has it grown since then?
I’m a Wiradjuri woman born to Dharug Country and have lived and raised my family in Dharug and Gundungurra Country in the Blue Mountains for over forty years. My dance collective ‘Wagana’ means ‘dancing now’ in Wiradjuri language and has a strong female focus. Wagana grew as an extension to my youth arts practice in 2007 and I currently have up to fifty Aboriginal women and girls dancing with me every week.
I’m committed to making positive, real and lasting change to the lives of Aboriginal women and girls through dance and cultural connection. I didn’t have opportunities to learn my language, my songs or cultural dances growing up. I was a painfully shy, self-doubting and socially awkward young person. I hated my fair skin, my thick thighs, my chubby cheeks and freckles. I wanted to be thin and brown like Jennifer Beals from Flashdance.
Dance taught me discipline, made me stronger in spirit, body and mind and gave me confidence without having to speak. We all need to feel strong and safe in culture, to know who we are and how we connect. Feeling and knowing this creates a sense of belonging, helps to form healthy relationships and builds self-esteem.
“Dance taught me discipline, made me stronger in spirit, body and mind and gave me confidence without having to speak.”Jo Clancy
I built a sand circle in my back yard ten years ago for Wagana to dance, sing, weave and eat together. Scores of birds fly over, come to rest and drink water from the small pools that form in the circle and waratahs grow over the rim reminding us of our many creation stories and the lessons they teach us.
Tell us about your productions and your delightful family show Under the Madhan, which was supported by Create NSW’s Creative Koori grant.
Under the Madhan is a 30-minute show aimed at young audiences with stories about listening and caring for Country, told through Wiradjuri song, dance and puppetry. The work premiered at the 2021 Sydney Festival thanks to Festival Director Wesley Enoch and a Create NSW Creative Koori development grant. A beautiful madhan (tree) designed and made by Erth Visual and Physical is a centrepiece for the work. Under the Madhan has since been re-worked and was presented at the Australian Museum’s Dinosaur Festival in 2022 and in schools across NSW.
My latest productions and collaborations include birrirra bandhung which premiered at Cementa Festival 2022; Wurrimbirra – to take care which toured to Whistler in Canada in 2022; Yindyang Bila for the Blue Mountains Culture Centre exhibition ‘WATER’ in 2022; and Mawambul – all together for the Coastal Dance Festival in Canada 2023.
Yindyang Bila L-R Tammi Gissell, Jo Clancy and Shana O’Brien Photo: Sue Healey
Yindyang Bila (slow river in Wiradjuri language) was also supported by Create NSW through a Creative Koori projects grant. The work pays homage to our Matriarchs and their connection to our waterways. The grant allowed me to spend time in Peak Hill and Parkes visiting the Bogan River to connect with my matriarchal line and to work in the studio and in Country with my cousin and dancer Tammi Gissell and dancer Shana O’Brien.
What advice would you give emerging choreographers?
Make work with people you can trust. Journal your dreams, thoughts, ideas and feelings. Let work rest if the timing isn’t right. Support your peers, see their work, lift them up. Be kind to yourself.
Learn more about Create NSW Creative Koori Arts and Cultural Funding Program grants and Get Funding and Support
