Two Aiken County libraries took a trip Down Under on Wednesday.
"I'm here to share my passion and love for Australia's first people," said Lindsey Dank, of Gainesville, Fla., who presented the Didgeridoo Down Under program at the Nancy Carson and Aiken County libraries.
A didgeridoo, Mr. Dank explained, is a type of instrument used by Aborigines, Australia's native people.
"This is a sacred instrument played by the Aborigines," Mr. Dank said at the Nancy Carson Library.
Mr. Dank is a founding member of the Gainesville-based Didg Revolution, both "a didg-percussion musical trio and a movement focused on bringing more awareness to this sacred, primal instrument," states the organization's Web site, www.didgrevolution.com.
The instrument is made from the eucalyptus tree, and only trees that have been hollowed out by insects such as termites are used, he said. Sounds are created by blowing into the instrument, Mr. Dank told the children.
Didgeridoos often are used at corroboree, or ceremonies with music and dance, he said.
Different sounds are used to represent animals such as kangaroo, kookaburra and dingo, the wild dog of Australia. Sounds also might represent water or the overbearing heat, which reaches 130 degrees at times, he said as he played sounds for the children.
As Mr. Dank gave an example of a kangaroo corroboree, children hopped around, acting out the story. When he told them about the oppressive heat, they lay on the floor as though they were melting into it.
Mr. Dank also told them about aboriginal art, which is sometimes called X-ray art because the view of the inside of the subject is part of the painting.
Rachel Pirkle, the children's coordinator for the Aiken-Bamberg-Barnwell-Edgefield Library System, arranged for Mr. Dank's performances at the libraries.
"I was so impressed with the program," she said. "It's a very popular program. This is something people have not seen."
Reach Charmain Z. Brackett at czbrackett@hotmail.com.
