That Deadman Dance cover art

That Deadman Dance

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
1 credit a month to buy any audiobook in our entire collection.
Access to thousands of additional audiobooks and Originals from the Plus Catalogue.
Member-only deals & discounts.
Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

That Deadman Dance

By: Kim Scott
Narrated by: Humphrey Bower
Try Premium Plus free

$16.45 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $39.99

Buy Now for $39.99

About this listen

Bobby Wabalanginy never learned fear, not until he was pretty well a grown man. Sure, he grew up doing the Dead Man Dance - those stiff movements, those jerking limbs – as if he’d learned it from their very own selves; but with him it was a dance of life, a lively dance for people to do together…

Told through the eyes of black and white, young and old, That Deadman Dance is a story about a fledgling Western Australian community in the early 1800s known as the ‘friendly frontier’. Poetic, warm-hearted and bold, it is a story which shows that first contact did not have to lead to war. It is a story for our times.

©2010 Kim Scott (P)2011 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd Historical Fiction Fiction Heartfelt
All stars
Most relevant  
If you live in Australia, you should read this book. It is so beautifully written, the audio was fantastic. I laughed and cried at different times in this book. I will keep coming back to read it over and over again and I will be telling everyone I know to read it.

Love this book so much.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I took a while too get into this story, but it improved. It was a heart breaking and informative and had a great reverence for the Indigenous Australian people.

A beautiful story.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I don’t know if I’d enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed listening to this. Great insight into colonisation and the aboriginal culture at the time. Loved the narration by Humphrey Bower.

Great to listen to!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Absolutely loved every minute. History I did not know in an adventurous novel, well told.

Loved every minute

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Wonderfully broad picture of so called 'peaceful integration' in contrast to the New South Wales and Western Victorian debacles. No less harrowing in the consideration of the selfish and greedy attitude of the 'colonisers'.

A Wonderful Australian Story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Like Scott I'm a descendant of both the South Coast Nyungar and the white settlers who wound up there. I don't have much language, or kaartdijin, and know little about life during those early times of interaction. This book did something very important for me. It helped me make sense of my parts, and their tensions. It helped me to understand that its okay for the Wadjela and the Nyungar in me to be friends, and more than that - for them to meld. That dance of Bobby Wabalanginy - a very Nyungar thing, not in spite of wearing a Wadjela's coat but because of it.

Hard to say how important this book is for me

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This is a must read for every Australian!
So seldom do we get to hear the story of the Australian colonization experience told from the perspective of its original inhabitants that it’s would be a terrible shame not to grab the opportunity when it finally presents self.
Wonderfully written and fabulously read, the story is surprising in that not all experiences were particularly negative and not all Characters in the story were victims - some mastered the situation thrust upon them and emerged hero’s!

One for every Australian

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Superlative performance of one of the finest Australian novels ever written. I had already read the physical book, but the audiobook brings several new dimensions to That Deadman Dance and suits it so well.

Superlative performance of one of the finest Austr

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A great book. Full credits for any awards given. Beautiful prose. Week read! Australians will benefit by reading.

A great reflection on Australian history

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Amazing cross cultural story line, made real and evocative through the rich depiction of a time and place in colonising Australia.

Fantastic story telling

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.