profile

mana waite percussion, didge, vocals, sound

Mana plays a hybrid kit with Spirit - djembe, darambouka, cymbals and roland kick drum hi-hat & pads. He has recently bought a tunable slide didgeridoo which he is very pleased about! Mana also plays kit and congas, and some electronics.

Mana has worked in bands and with dance and theatre companies as performer, composer, designer since the 70's. He has been meditating with Tibetan and western masters for 30 years, and now teaches dharma (mana's site). More recently he has been playing in various bhajan / kirtan bands in australia and overseas.

'For years I was searching for ways to bring my spiritual life into fuller connection with my creative life, and especially music. Then I met ShantiMayi - and her passionately musical sanga, including Mohini and Peela - and everything fell into place. Bhajan is such a simple, joyful and direct way to come into our hearts. Meeting Bindu, Atma and bhajan lovers from other sangas was the inspiration to take bhajan out from the traditional sanga contexts to wider audiences. Together we formed Spirit. We hope that you can share some of this special journey with us.'

Selected bands, performance productions and events:

1974 Senza Sordini (electronics and drum kit) Sydney
1976 Orpheus (rock) Tauranga NZ
1978-9 Half Moon (jazz rock) Wellington NZ
1979 Mangaweka Viaduct Blues Band Wellington NZ
1978-9 Serendipity (bent classical and straight avant-garde music) Wellington NZ
1978-9 Gamelan orchestra Wellington NZ
1980 Acme Blues Company Perth
1980-4 CATS children's theatre company - composer, performer, sets, director for many productions, community events and workshops
1981-92 resident musician Playback theatre (improvisation)
1981-1987 resident percussionist, WAAPA contemporary dance dept, composer & performer for numerous dance and theatre productions
1981-7 composer & performer, many dance productions with Kineticos and Still Moves, Perth's premier contemporary dance companies
1987 Composer, actor, instrument maker for Perth International Festival production of Circus Aristophanes
1987-9 PhD fieldwork on community performance arts & possession trance rituals in Trinidad, West Indies
1990-2 lecturer theatre & music Murdoch University. Student production with homemade instruments won WA Actors Centre Busking competition and television contract
1991 Didgeridoo for HH Dalai Lama Perth Entertainment Centre
1991 Coordinator Artrage street arts festival
1999 Didgeridoo for HH Karmapa, Kagyu International Buddhist Insitiute, New Delhi
2002-present various bhajan groups and events in Perth, India, Denmark, Germany, Canada
2006 Spirit is formed!