Aboriginal-themed skating routine by Russian pair offends indigenous Australians

Aborigines offended by Russian ice dance

MELBOURNE, Australia — An Aboriginal-themed routine by two Russian ice dancers has stirred up a pre-Olympic controversy, with some indigenous Australians blasting the “rip off” of their culture and Canadian native leaders worrying about the insensitivity of the skaters.

World champions Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin are doing an Aboriginal routine for their original dance — complete with brown-toned costumes adorned with leaves and white Aboriginal-style markings. Their music includes a didgeridoo riff.

In the original dance, couples can create any kind of dance that falls within an assigned theme. This year’s theme is country/folk, and skaters are doing routines to everything from Indian music to country western to Moldovian folk songs.

“It’s appalling,” Bev Manton, chairperson of the Aboriginal Land Council in New South Wales state, said of Domnina and Shabalin’s choice. “The whole thing was a poor effort. They could have provided more respect to our culture by doing more research.”

Domnina, who won the European dance title with Shabalin last week, has said that they researched their dance by watching online videos of Aboriginal dances.

Manton, a member of the Womiri people, said Sunday she wasn’t concerned by the idea that the Russians wanted to perform an Aboriginal dance as much as their inaccurate portrayal.

“I don’t know why they wouldn’t first contact Aboriginal people,” she told The Associated Press. “I just think the whole thing is offensive.”

In an editorial published in the Sydney Morning Herald this week, Manton scoffed at the whole routine — from the attire to the music to the dance steps. She said international interest in Aboriginal culture should be expressed respectfully.

“The ripping off of our art and songs is not (respectful), and nor is this depiction of my culture,” Manton wrote. “Our dance, our ceremony and … our designs and images have evolved over 60,000 years. We’re understandably fond of them, and we don’t like seeing them ripped off and painted onto someone’s body for a sporting contest.”

Online response to Australian media coverage of the controversy has been mixed, with some denouncing the routine as “distasteful” and many others suggesting the dance was a compliment and should not be a source of controversy.

“Get over it, have a beer, and chuckle at two dancers flailing about on ice taking themselves far too seriously,” one reader wrote on the Herald’s Web site.

The Russians missed the Grand Prix season because of Shabalin’s knee injury, and unveiled the routine at last month’s Russian nationals. The fact that they plan to use it again at the Vancouver Olympics has worried Canada’s indigenous leaders.

Tewanee Joseph, CEO of the Four Host First Nations, told Canada’s Globe and Mail newspaper he would like to meet with the Russian pair ahead of the Olympics.

“They are coming into our territory. They should feel comfortable here, but at the same time we want to educate them on our culture and we will encourage them to contact the Aboriginals in Australia before the Games,” Joseph was quoted as saying Friday.