ABSTRACT
In this chapter we explore ways that dance and movement expresse a creative intelligence and connection with place, and how they can enhance and enliven our understanding of our relationship with nature and ecological issues. We argue that our awareness of how we move through space enables an embodied knowing that must have validity in a changing world. Our interactions with country are continually changing as a result of colonisation and constant new technologies; however, the stories held in country can connect us to dance and movement, as articulated by our Ancestors. Dance stories have a unique ability to help us attune to our own bodies and the natural world through which our bodies are constantly navigating. Dance can provide an opportunity for the expression of traditional cultural practices and stories and, as a creative process, create and explore our changing relationships and responsibility to the places through which we move. Jo's work expresses Aboriginal cultural practice, stories and knowledge systems, and her understanding of place and culture through contemporary and traditional dance. Christy is interested in the intelligence of the body and how this is an important and valid way to understand our connection to nature and to bridge the space between scientific understanding of ecological crises and our embodied understanding of this primary relationship with the Earth.
