Saturday 8th of July, 2000
DancePlant advertised & set up a day to help a local farmer plant native tree & shrub seedlings. There were two families & a dozen young people involved whose reports were all positive. We prepared food made from local produce (lunch & dinner) and set up two marquee areas for shelter and the musical equipment. Toilet & washing facilities were also set up. Once the four hundred seedlings were planted by the end of the day, we enjoyed dinner by the campfire & a local dj later played some dance records, to suit the audience.

Saturday 22nd of July, 2000
Following the success of our first event, we had more people involved & more trees planted for our second event. We even had some djs' who travelled all the way from Melbourne to checkout DancePlant, because of what they had heard about us! This enthusiasm led us to build a web-site for the wider community & advertise events, including national media coverage on Triple J.


Saturday 5th of August, 2000
This event focussed on setting up a more complex outdoor site, including a mowed area, creative lighting, installations/props & photography for promotion. To add to the 'think global, act global' concept, we used wheat from the farm we ground it & made fresh pasta & sauce, which has been a repeated success. Other local produce used has been oranges, bread & 'saltbush' lamb. Only a small number attended this event. We planted 150 trees, and like every Danceplant we have done, was another valuable learning experience.

Weekend of the 23rd September, 2000
We had a large setup crew for this event with the end result being 1200 trees planted, and the most creative dance & camping area. Two acoustic musicians added to a beautiful late afternoon atmosphere after the days' work. Later in the night, two DJ's provided some music which had everyone dancing.

'Party in the Park' October 14th, 2000
An estimated 600 people came to the 'Party in the Park' which was Danceplants' first in-town promotion (Victory Memorial Gardens). The various local acoustic artists & DJs, drew a lot of people from the street, with the live music sound & an outdoor dance floor! A key feature of this in-town event was an Information Marquee which was put together with Greening Australia to proivide information regarding identification of native plants and current environmental issues. Native seedlings suitable for town gardens were sold for fundraising along with detailed information about the plants. Other features included a local artwork display, as well as food and a relaxation marquee.


'Galore Tree-plant' October 21st, 2000
This event was advertised as a follow up activity at our 'Party in the Park' on the 14th of October. The tree-plant was organised with Galore Landcare Group, 55 km west of Wagga Wagga. It was a great opportunity to build relationships within the Central Riverina Landcare Network. All up there were 10 people out for the day, arriving at about 12 p.m. The planting site was a roadside about 1 km off the highway near Galore. We setup a shade/music/BBQ area underneath some Boree trees, using our straw bales, carpet, a 12/240 V inverter for power supply from a vehicle. We used our turntables, CD players and small PA system. Before lunch we planted, guarded & mulched 100 trees, and in the afternoon planted the remaining 500. Despite the small turn out, we achieved a great deal and Galore Landcare Group were very happy with our work and professional conduct. We did not have a very long 'party' because we had planned to return to Wagga for the 'UNSOUND' arts project on the same weekend. The 4 young people we collected at the bus stops, were new faces to our group, which was great because this fact gave us great confidence that DancePlant can only become more popular & successful.

Seed Collecting Workshop 21st November, 2000
This was a workshop with Greening Australia which visited two bushland sites, Willans Hill & Mangoplah Road. Gabi McIntyre from Greening Australia explained to the group how to identify local plant species and also how to collect the seeds. Some members of DancePlant have nurseries and grow trees for some of our plantings.

'FunkPlant' 16th of December, 2000
An in-town promotional party, 'FunkPlant' was held at Wagga Beach and over the course of the day attracted around 300 people. As well as the local native seedlings for urban gardens, we again sold food & drinks for fundraising. Our information tent was also popular & we received quite a few names on our interest sheet. We built a giant slip 'n' slide into the river using large sheets of plastic and reticulating water using a pump. This was to help people cool off in true 70's fashion. It was great to see 20 kids & their parents lining up for a go for most of the afternoon. We appreciated the help of the Wagga Beach Volunteer Lifeguards who supervised the slide at all times. For the music, we hired a P.A. system and some lighting for the evening. The theme being 'Seventies Funk', many groovers from the era came out of the woodwork to dance & boogie!!

'Praxis' opening night, 9th of March 2001
On Friday March 9, DancePlant held the opening night of a new side project designed to raise operating funds, attract
new membership & gather community for conservation activities later in the year.
The project is called 'PRAXIS', from the Greek term meaning 'to act'. It is a night of tribal music & dance, a friendly home-
like atmosphere, no drugs or alcohol & no smoking inside. 'Praxis' will be held once a month at 'The Basement' below the
Civic Theatre in Morrow Street. 'Praxis' is a very down to earth night and an alternative to the pubs & nightclubs of Wagga where often there are problems with alcohol, in many instances effecting aggressive behaviour.

Our group believes that this culture is very destructive and sets a bad example, particularly for young people developing their social standing. We also believe that young people need an outlet where they can be themselves
and interact in a friendly environment. 'Praxis' is not a nightclub; it is more like a party at someone's house where you feel comfortable. We design the night to feel very non-commercial. Instead of having alcohol, we have bowls of fresh fruit, free water & energy drinks. We have an area for couches & cushions, a dance space, a bar area where the fruit & drinks are available. Our music is not too loud, so one can talk to other people easily. The door charge is an affordable $4.

The opening night was a huge success. From all reports everyone had a great night. We opened at 10 p.m. after spending the afternoon decorating & designing the interior of the venue, setting up the sound & lighting. By 1 am, around 200 people had come through the door & there were around 60 on the dance-floor. We received a long list of names on our contact sheet at the front desk, where people could register their interest in upcoming tree-planting activities.

Best of all, the opening night for 'Praxis' really gave our committee & crew a huge motivational boost. We are now very confident that we are on the right track to creating an important new social movement that is going to unite urban & rural cultures, enabling real and truly representative community participation in Landcare.

SkatePark Official Opening, Saturday 7th April 2001
We complimented the Punk & Thrash metal bands 'quite well' by opening the day with some uplifting trance???
It was okay & we made some fundraising $ out of it and promoted our group & 'PRAXIS'.

'PRAXIS' no 2, Friday 20th April 2001
Not quite as many people, but it was fun all the same. (uni holidays) We covered costs and got some new recruits for the RiverPlant follow-up activity. Whatever numbers of people come along, every activity seems to evolve. Organised but at the same time 'spontaneous' lets activities evolve and let the people 'create' them & thus feel more part of them.


*RiverPlant 27-28 April 2001
20 people planted 4000 aquatic plants to stabilise an eroding section of the bank on the Murrumbidgee River.
We provided a bus from Wagga on the Friday night where we camped, had a fire, food and some acoustic music (drums & Janu played guitar). The next day we did the planting.


Reconciliation Week - National Day of Healing, Saturday 26th May 2001
DancePlant worked with 'Reconciliation Wagga Wagga', a grass-roots community group, to help the Wagga Elders establish native trees & shrubs in the garden of their 'Yarn-up Centre' in Ashmont. We donated some plants including emu bush which is traditionaly a special one for local indigenous people. The working bee was a community day to meet the Elders and work together in the spirit of Reconciliation.


World Environment Day, 5th June 2001
Set up a plant stall at Greening Australia, Trail Street, as part of their activities for World Environment Day.
Sold a few natives for fundraisng + set up a stone wheat mill & ground flour & porridge from whole wheat. This idea was mainly just to attract attention, but it also symbolises the notions of 'local' & 'community' in an agricultural environment. These ideals are essential for good environmental management.

Oakvale, 13-15th July 2001
On the Friday night, several people arrived and we had dinner and music around the campfire.
2300 trees were planted on Saturday 14th of July at 'Oakvale', Boree Creek. 20 people attended the tree-planting and 12 stayed for the Saturday night party. Probably our most well organised activity.

'Ladysmith' 27-29th July 2001
A beautiful starry Friday night was followed by a perfect day for planting trees. The gully where we were planting was very difficult terrain. 12 of us planted, guarded & watered around 450 trees.