Sudanese Group Tells Stories Through Dance at Ethnic Festival

By Mark Coddington
mark.coddington@theindependent.com
Published: Sunday, June 28, 2009 9:54 PM CDT

The equipment used by the Dinka Malual dance group at the Grand Island Ethnic Festival on Sunday afternoon was quite simple -- wooden sticks, rags, pom-poms and rings of crushed pop cans around the ankles.

But amid the stomps, singing and the cans' ringing, the group's performance was also communicating a profound message.

As Garang Deng of Grand Island sang, he told stories in his native Dinka language about the tribe's history and homeland in southern Sudan -- many of which recounted the persecution and violence the tribe has seen, sometimes in graphic detail.

Still, the songs were sung to a relentlessly celebratory beat, as the dancers reminded themselves and each other of the freedom they now share.

We feel some kind of pain in it," Deng said of the songs and dances. "But it's exciting, because we did it -- we came out of it. What it means is we need to go ahead and do more for the protection of our community, to improve our country, to make our people feel more at home."

Sunday's performances were the first in town for the group made up of people from Grand Island and Omaha.

The group's members are from the Malual tribe of the Dinka ethnic group in southern Sudan, an area that has been racked by slavery and war for decades.

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