Merimbula Public School celebrated Harmony Day 2017 with a performance by Ryka Ali. This is the second time that Ryka has performed for us at our school.
Ryka’s heritage stems from the Wuthathi tribe of Shelburne Bay, Cape York and from the Torres Strait Islands. He was the winner in the Young, Black and Deadly Talent Quest (2003).
He performed with his grandmother Cindy and showed us the richness of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islands cultures. They performed an introductory dance and taught our students about their flag. Our students participated in the dances and were given explanations of various instruments, artefacts and costumes specific to the Islands.
Ryka then introduced the Aboriginal culture, ‘painting up’ with ochre (along with student volunteers) and explained it’s importance and the significance of the designs. He then taught the students some native dances that they had a great time sharing with their audience. He showed the students some instruments important to Aboriginal culture.
The highlight of the show was when he played his didgeridoo showing our students some hop/urban sounds combined with the didgeridoo. We loved having Ryka and Cindy visit our school once again!
