The Mayakeniny, which means “sound dancing,” Dance Group are a Noongar collective Indigenous to the southwest of Western Australia, led by Trevor Ryan and Rubeun Yorkshire and featuring songs by Maatakitj (professor of Indigenous languages Clint Bracknell). As the southwest of Western Australia is a global biodiversity hotspot, a global drying hotspot, and a site of Indigenous language endangerment, Mayakeniny Dance Group creates innovative performance works in Noongar creative traditions to reconnect people and landscapes.
Mayakeniny Dance Group has emerged from the Australian Research Council Project “Restoring on-Country Performance” led by Clint Bracknell (University of Queensland), Linda Barwick (University of Sydney), Pierre Horwitz and Dan McAullay (Edith Cowan University), and Aaron Allen (UNC Greensboro).