Videos from the REAL Australia

Culture and fun from the Top End of Australia

Social dances in the Top End are often called "bungkul" or "wungubal" and typically are very lively with jumps by the men but more demure movements by the women. Hard wooden clapsticks are used to keep time and the "didjeridu", the famous dronepipe made from a hollow log, provides a unique background sound. The didjeridu is uniquely from Arnhem Land and was, in the old days, used nowhere else. There are a few examples here from Numbulwar, on the east coast of Arnhem Land. On special occasions traditional singing and dancing is performed, with the dancers with full ceremonial decorations, as when community members receive a college degree from Batchelor College, an indigenous college south of Darwin.

Also in Numbulwar School traditional dances may be performed by the children, with the men bringing the clapsticks and didjeridu and singing the songs of the Nunggubuyu people. A school picnic on the beach also provides a good opportunity for traditional dancing. But there are also non-traditional activities like singing, line-dancing and a fun day in the rain.

Aboriginal kids love sports and are usually pretty athletic, as can be seen in a bush football match and trampoline jumping. And they love to have a go on the didjeridu (didgeridoo or yirdaki), the traditional drone-pipe, used in ceremonies from Arnhem Land for at least 1,500 years, but also popular now throughout Australia to play for fun.

Click on a picture to play a video

Didjeridu competition	Trampoline jumping	Wungubal at night	Brolga Dance	Dance in Numbulwar School
Numbulwar dance	Aussie Rules football	Wungubal on the beach	Singing, Numbulwar School	Numbulwar Line dancing
Traditional singing	Celebration, Numbulwar	Dancing in the street	Numbulwar Graduation	Fun at Numbulwar School

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