The sources describe a consistent and strict division of roles between men and women during most corroborees. The central dramatic action of the corroboree is performed by the men. Anthony Trollope described it as “a tribal dance in which the men congregate… and go through various antics,” while the women and children sit around in a circle. Roderick J. Flanagan elaborates that the corroboree features “eighty or a hundred men ranged in a line… performing a measured dance,” and it is the “scene of their songs and orations.” May Vivienne observed the men “leaping up in the air… and contorting their bodies in most grotesque fashion.”
The women’s primary role is to provide the music and rhythm for the male dancers. Flanagan explicitly states that “the women [are] the instrumental performers, as well as sustaining the chief burden of the vocal music.” This is described in multiple accounts:
May Vivienne noted that while the men danced, other men “squatted on the ground chanting strange sounds and beating sticks, while the lubras (wives), gins (girls), and pickaninnies (children) sat or lay around, making a fearful noise and clapping their hands vigorously.”
The account from “The Narrinyeri” specifies that in most ringbalin, “only the men dance; the women sit on the ground and sing.” They beat the planggi (skin drums) and form the core of the choir.