History
Michael Cuming
Michael embarked on a path of musical expression from a very young age, growing up in melbourne, surrounded by the sounds of the piano,played by his mother. Michael started to play classical piano at a young age. He appeared in the Turandot opera at the age of 11 and at that age already had a keen interest in the Arts ,he loved film making as well and directed some film projects with his class mates, fundraising money for a good cause. Michael, as a teenager,started writing songs on piano and guitar and already as a child had a close connection and involvement with Aboriginal Culture, it was then that he started to learn to play the didgeridoo.
He formed the Dreamtime band in the early eighties and performed the circuit around Melbourne,apart from writing music, performing and singing, Michael had an interest in puppetry, he created some characters which he incorporated into the Dreamtime band's performances and performed a duet with Joe Cocker together with his Afro American life size character "Lizzy"
He formed the Dreamtime band in the early eighties and performed the circuit around Melbourne,apart from writing music, performing and singing, Michael had an interest in puppetry, he created some characters which he incorporated into the Dreamtime band's performances and performed a duet with Joe Cocker together with his Afro American life size character "Lizzy"
In 1986,Michael created the Dreamtime theatre Company in 1981,In 1986, Dreamtime embarked on a national tour around Australia, performing in Aboriginal Communities,small towns,big towns,Alice Springs and Arnhem land.
Michael pioneered the use of the didgeridoo in syncro multi instrumental use, ie, didgeridoo played at the same time as other instruments by the same player, eg, didgeridoo guitar,didgeridoo percussion, didgeridoo keyboards etc Michael has studied Latin percussion,Afro Cuban rhytms and African percussion. He visited Bali to study tinklik a tradition percussive instrument used in gamelan music, he also studied the citar and chinese harp and apart from playing the didgeridoo, keyboards, percussion, guitar and classical harp and harmonica, he plays Bulgarian bagpipes,clarinet, flutes and small percussive intruments. Michael has an extensive knowledge on traditional Aboriginal rhytms and songs, having played for a multitude of traditional Aboriginal group's as didgeridoo player, he had to learn all the traditional punctuations in rhytms as Aboriginal dance is accompanied by traditional song and music which for the European ear can be" mind boggling" as their rhytm patterns are so different.
In 1990, Michael formed the group " Visions of a Nomad" a new project in search of fusing old and new traditions into a new genre, Michael pioneered the use of the didgeridoo in combination with Classical, Jazz and World music influences and composed a repertoire that took people on a explorative journey around the world, the symphony was designed as a non stop concert with compositions spanning 50 minutes at a time.The works were performed in Sydney with Dutch drummer marcel van Arnhem, on tour in Queensland and was a great success at the then in its infant stages Maleny Festival, better known these days as the Woodford festival, Visions of a Nomad was voted " most popular " act and returned to the festival hosting its own venue in consecutive year's.
Silvana van Dijk
Silvana van Dijk
Key member Silvana van Dijk was born in Rotterdam in the Netherlands. Coming from a musical family where mum tap danced and sang, dad played the chromatic harmonica and accordeon. Her parents both had a love for music and dance. Silvana loved music and dance from a very young age, her dad took her to her first balletlesson at age 7,she started to play the organ at age 10, her oldest brother influenced her in taking up playingconga's after he returned from Cuba where he studied Afro Cuban rhytms.her youngest brother Jan also played
the conga's and bongo's.
Silvana has grown into an outstanding performer and has toured the world as acrucial part of the show ARC dreaming and the group Visions of a Nomad, she has developed a style of her own on drums and is able to sing intrigate lines and harmonies with her haunting and soulfull lyrical voice whilst playing the drum kit.Silvana has
an extensive knowledge on Aboriginal rhytms and songs, Afro Cuban rhytms, Latin rhytms and a great passion for Jazz in all it forms.She also studied African rhytms on percussion, has a unique ability in playing the shekere and writes her own songs and also plays the conga's small percussion and concertina.
the conga's and bongo's.
Silvana has grown into an outstanding performer and has toured the world as acrucial part of the show ARC dreaming and the group Visions of a Nomad, she has developed a style of her own on drums and is able to sing intrigate lines and harmonies with her haunting and soulfull lyrical voice whilst playing the drum kit.Silvana has
an extensive knowledge on Aboriginal rhytms and songs, Afro Cuban rhytms, Latin rhytms and a great passion for Jazz in all it forms.She also studied African rhytms on percussion, has a unique ability in playing the shekere and writes her own songs and also plays the conga's small percussion and concertina.
In 1994, Michael Cuming and Silvana van dijk conceived the concept of ARC Dreaming, in that same year, they formed Culturebank, a productions Company working from a refurbished Warehouse in the heart of Brisbane Australia. Culturebank 's warehouse theatre was a very popular spot for Indigenous and Cultural artists to get together to exchange ideas and collaborate on projects, it was brisbane's only affordable andindependent theatre, performance space available at that time, it was also one of the first places where Indigenous and Non Indigenous artists started to work together in an artistic environment.
Culturebank hosted a large variety of productions over the year's of existence, including Opera, World jazz , contemporary Aboriginal dance,World Music,Theatre and Classica l World Fusion music.
Culturebank was host of the Brisbane Festival, Cinema night,it hosted dance workshops for the elderly and youth at risk,as well as the work for the dole scheme for youth that had been released from detention Culturebank also hosted Indigenous Culture dance workshops for Yalangi pre school pupils and was home for the Flamenco school under direction of Simone Pope and produced its first ARC dreaming show.
ARC dreaming ( Australian reconciliation Company) was conceived because of the need to address the issueof reconciliation through the expression of music and dance. Due to the racial and political environment within Australia, at that time, it seemed an impossible task, many hurdles and obstacles had to be overcome, the Company only existed through the sheer desire to succeed and on voluntary work.
Since that time, "ARC dreaming" and its musical component " Visions of a Nomad" have toured extensively with performances in Holland, Ireland, Japan and the U.S.A.
Michael and Silvana were asked to produce an Aboriginal
smoking ceremony to be performed at sacred ruins of
the original running track in Olympia,The Herodus Atticus at the foot of the Acropolis,Kalamata and Volos for the highly prestigious," Cultural Olympiad" in Greece in 2004 as a forerunner of the Olympics.
smoking ceremony to be performed at sacred ruins of
the original running track in Olympia,The Herodus Atticus at the foot of the Acropolis,Kalamata and Volos for the highly prestigious," Cultural Olympiad" in Greece in 2004 as a forerunner of the Olympics.
The Cultural Olympiad attracts the finest Cultural ambassadors of each country represented in the Olympics, Michael and Silvana were invited to produce the Australian component of the event and Michael was asked to play the didgeridoo for the Aboriginal Cultural Dance performances by Nunukul Yuggera from Ipswich.
Michael has played the didgeridoo for numerous Australian Indigenous dance group's including, Wakka Wakka, Nunukul Kunjeil, Jama Dreaming, and over the last 5 year's Nunukul Yuggera. Michael and Silvana also worked with various Torres Strait islander group including Bi Mali Murri. Michael and Visions of a Nomad have produced dance productions including collaborative works with Flamenco, African, Cuban, Brasilian, Japanese culture, and Contemporary dance, combined with World Fusion Jazz and Classical and Contemporary music elements.
As a result of the Cultural Olypiad tour and a decade of work through"Culturebank",Michael produced an hour long documentary called" Long road to Olympia". The documentary depicts the workings of Culturebank,Visions of a Nomad and Nunukul Yuggera's performances, enhanced with stunning nature photography,animation and collage. The documentary took two year's to make.
As a result of the Cultural Olypiad tour and a decade of work through"Culturebank",Michael produced an hour long documentary called" Long road to Olympia". The documentary depicts the workings of Culturebank,Visions of a Nomad and Nunukul Yuggera's performances, enhanced with stunning nature photography,animation and collage. The documentary took two year's to make.
ARC dreaming and Visions of a Nomad have been going from strenght to strenght and the Company has performed all over the work to rave reviews and standing ovations in many forms and incarnations but always with a strong emphasis on Aboriginal Culture and cutting edge innovative music with the message of courage and the desire to cross boundary's.
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Long road to Olympia
Long road to Olympia chapter one. Follow the footsteps of Culturebank and Nunukul Yuggera as part of the Cultural Olympiad ,witnes ceremonial performances, Indigenous and Contemporary Australian Culture,directed by Michael Cuming from Visions of a Nomad.
Didgeridoo Visions of a Nomad
Visions of a Nomad and Nunukul Yuggera's Aboriginal dance group's most recent production.
Aboriginal Dance Theatre ARC Dreaming
Didgeridoo music,Visions of a Nomad and Nunukul Yuggera Aboriginal dance group.
Aboriginal contemporary Culture Dance fusion and Classical jazz world music fusion.Australian Reconciliation Company performs Mirabooka Dreaming 2008.
Aboriginal contemporary Culture Dance fusion and Classical jazz world music fusion.Australian Reconciliation Company performs Mirabooka Dreaming 2008.