00:02In a function room in Brisbane's South West, an age-old tradition is taking place.
00:07It's pretty unique. I haven't heard much people my age that get to do stuff like this.
00:11The Rite of Passage Ball is a coming-of-age celebration for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander kids in Inala.
00:20At the precipice of adulthood, the teenagers are presented to the audience filled with delighted family members.
00:28Proud of who they are, their culture and their community as well, who they stand before on that night.
00:37Before the glitz and glamour, the young adults undergo eight weeks of workshops.
00:42That's with song, dance, language.
00:46Perfecting their cultural dances while also trying their hand at more modern classics like Ballroom.
00:53At the beginning, they're just like girl-boys germs and then at the end they're just loving it.
01:00The Rite of Passage Ball began two decades ago when the young people of Inala decided they wanted a way
01:06to celebrate this transformative stage.
01:09While debutante balls have been around for hundreds of years, coming-of-age ceremonies have long existed in First Nations
01:17culture.
01:18It feels good to represent our culture and show how proud we are to be Aboriginal.
01:23I've been waiting for this basically my whole life since my siblings done it and that.
01:28I believe now.
01:29All right.
01:29We shall make this एvert fight.
01:29We'll have a cup on our 3rd knife, people who have football a child or a child or one student.
01:30Let's wait or just cadian music.
01:30Just look back and talking behind.
