Singing
Seaman Dan's singing came from family, friends and associating with natural musicians in his multi-cultural maritime working life, creating a fusion of music from Australia, Melanesia, North America, Africa and Polynesia, notably the Thursday Island 'hula' style. He has been a regular performer at Thursday Island's local hotels for many years.
He is "A charismatic and consummate performer, Seaman Dan blends traditional Torres Strait Islander and pearling songs with jazz, hula and blues," (from the Australia Council for the Arts' 2005 Red Ochre Award Media Release for the 2005 Red Ochre Award). The Red Ochre Award recognizes and pays tribute to an Indigenous Australian artist who has made an outstanding contribution to the development and recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts and culture, both nationally and internationally.
He has performed in Japan and throughout Australia, most notably at the National Folk Festival, Darwin Festival, Adelaide and Adelaide Fringe Festivals, Laura Dance and Music Festival, Tasmania's 10 Days on the Island Festival, NAIDOC Ball, and at the National Museum of Australia's Tracking Kultja: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Festival.
Now semi-retired at the age of 81 years, in 2009 he performed for the Pacific Leaders Forum in Cairns and the inaugural Cairns Indigenous Arts Fair.
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