Australian
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Teacher’s notes

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This clip shows the rock band Big Bag, made up of both intellectually disabled and non-disabled members, performing at a disability arts festival during a tour of Japan in 1997. The band is shown on stage performing their song 'Hare Disco’ with the chorus of 'It’s a party, party, party’ and then bowing to acknowledge the audience’s enthusiastic applause. They are then shown meeting some of their new fans, including people with disabilities, and later celebrating at a restaurant with their Japanese hosts. At one point Japanese text scrolls up the right side of the frame.

Educational value points

• The Geelong-based band Big Bag comprises seven members, three of whom have intellectual disabilities. Big Bag grew out of a Geelong arts and theatre ensemble for people with disabilities. The ensemble formed in the late 1980s in response to the Victorian Government’s policy of deinstitutionalisation, which saw many disabled people returning to the community to be housed with family or in residential care. At the time the Government did not have programs that fostered the involvement of disabled people in the community.

• Big Bag’s 1997 tour of southern Japan culminated with the concert shown here at a disability arts festival before an audience of 1,100 people, who responded enthusiastically to the band. Festival director, Toshiyuki Shikyo, invited Big Bag to the festival to inspire Japan’s fledgling arts and disability scene. The band was accompanied by a small entourage that included a manager, an interpreter and non-disabled singer Nadine McGrath’s newborn baby (shown backstage in this clip).

• The clip is an example of a positive portrayal of people with disabilities. The three members of the band with intellectual disabilities are shown to be as much a part of the band as their non-disabled counterparts and to be very comfortable in their role on stage and as musicians. Until the mid-1980s disabled people in Australia were hardly seen and rarely heard and this is still the case in many countries.

• One of the reasons Big Bag formed was to give voice to the experiences and emotions of people with disabilities. Big Bag enables its members who have a disability to express their creativity and to actively engage with a wider community in a way that is very empowering. The response of disabled audience members shown in this clip suggests that the members of Big Bag also serve as role models for others with disabilities.

• Big Bag is an example of the integration and collaboration between a group of people who are intellectually disabled and non-disabled. The rock band deliberately sets out to celebrate the differences between its members and in doing so, suggests that disability should not be hidden or viewed in a negative light but rather seen as one of many differences between individuals.

• Through its performances the band challenges cultural assumptions about people with disabilities and shows that people with disabilities can make a dynamic contribution to the arts and the wider community. This has been borne out by the success of Big Bag within disabled communities and in a mainstream context.

• The clip provides an example of one of the songs performed by Big Bag. The band performs pop and rock songs, most of which they compose themselves. Subjects for the songs range from the deeply personal to the political, with demands for change and celebrations of access to mainstream culture. The songs often include references to popular and disability culture and life in Geelong.

This clip starts approximately 48 minutes into the documentary.

The Big Bag Band performs ‘Hare Disco’ on stage with a full live band singing the chorus of 'It’s a party, party, party’ at the Japanese disabled arts festival. The song continues over footage of the performers, taking applause from the audience and receiving bunches of flowers on stage.

The performers walk off back stage and congratulate each other and greet excited friends and fans signing autographs and shaking hands.

The congratulations and celebrations continue in a restaurant where the performers are having dinner with their Japanese hosts.