The Baluan garamut in diaspora

Chapter 5 addresses the Baluan garamut community in diaspora, principally in Port Moresby, and further considers how developments within the diaspora have influenced the garamut culture in Baluan itself. These developments within the diaspora hinge largely upon the activities of Paluai Sooksook, a Port Moresby-based group of Baluan garamut drummers and dancers. The chapter considers the activities of Paluai Sooksook in Port Moresby, internationally, and upon their return to Baluan. It includes a brief analysis of a Paluai Sooksook interpretation of a particular Baluan repertoire piece, and discusses of how performance style and substance has evolved with changes in performance context. The chapter further investigates how elements of the Baluan garamut repertoire have in recent years found their way into the repertoires of contemporary music groups in Australia, and also notes how certain international experiences of Paluai Sooksook group members have fed back into ideas of performance and innovation in Baluan, creating something of a cycle of influence.