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Dusty Feet Mob

About

A community first.

We come together through movement to keep culture strong, build pride and confidence in our young people, and share stories that matter.

Red earth meeting water near Port Augusta — Home is Port Augusta — red earth, gulf water, green at the edge.

Who we are

Collectively. Carefully. With cultural responsibility at the centre.

Dusty Feet Mob is an Aboriginal intergenerational dance collective from Port Augusta, South Australia. We are a community of dancers, families, Elders, mentors and supporters. Our ensemble spans ages six to thirty-one.

What makes the Mob distinctive is not only what we perform, but how we work. We began as a grassroots community group and have grown into a respected performing arts organisation. From the beginning the purpose has been twofold: a safe place where Aboriginal children and young people can belong and be held by community, and a path for dancers and storytellers to stand proudly in public and share culture through traditional and contemporary dance.

How we work

Dance is not extra-curricular.

It is a living practice that builds identity, leadership and wellbeing.

Held by family

Parents, grandparents and mentors show up so dancers are supported and safe. Elders and cultural loreholders guide what is shared, and protect young people when the material is heavy.

Culture and stage

Traditional footwork sits beside contemporary choreography and large ensemble work. Story can be Country, joy, kinship and survival. It can also be removal, grief and disruption. We do not separate them, because our lives do not.

No one left behind

We tour with children and young people in a 12-seater bus. Permissions, family communication, safety planning and child-safe practice sit inside every booking. Distance should not decide who gets to dance.

Leadership

Co-Artistic Directors.

Robbie Crilly-Taylor and Wanita Calyun talking together

Robbie Crilly-Taylor and Wanita Calyun at Screen Circle

Robbie Crilly-Taylor and Wanita Calyun, Co-Artistic Directors.

Adnyamathanha · Port Augusta

Wanita Calyun

Artistic Director and choreographer. Wanita’s leadership is defined by deep care for young dancers and a long-term commitment to safe, disciplined, uplifting rooms where children grow in confidence, identity and connection through movement.

She shaped the company’s storytelling style — cultural pride beside truth-telling — including the choreography for Uncle Archie Roach’s Took the Children Away. Gladys Elphick Awards Young Sisters Rising Star, 2016. Nominated, Third Sector Awards First Nations Leader of the Year.

Kokatha and Yankunytjatjara

Robert “Robbie” Crilly-Taylor

Co-director, cultural leader, dancer and community educator. Based between Coober Pedy, Port Augusta and Adelaide, Robbie carries cultural knowledge to younger generations through song, dance, storytelling and visual art.

He regularly travels between Coober Pedy, the APY Lands and Port Augusta for cultural commitments, and contributes through Antakirinja Matu-Yankunytjatjara Aboriginal Corporation. His role in the Mob is artistic and protective: discipline, pride, confidence, and work carried with integrity.

Why it matters

Rehearsal teaches showing up.

Older dancers mentor the younger ones. The younger ones learn they are part of something larger than themselves. Families see their children stand taller. Elders see culture carried forward in living form.

This is not only a performance outcome. It is a community practice that strengthens people from the inside.

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