DANCERITES - First Nations Dance
DANCERITES — Australia’s First Nations dance competition — is the Sydney Opera House’s free celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island dance and cultures on the Sydney Opera House Forecourt, taking place each spring.
DANCERITES draws together performers representing nations from across the country from The Kimberleys to Far North Queensland, the Tiwi Islands, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and New South Wales. Groups travel to Sydney to showcase their unique cultures in one of the world’s most spectacular outdoor performance spaces: Bennelong Point. Formerly known as Tubowgule, Bennelong Point has been a meeting place for ritual celebration and dance for tens of thousands of years.
Each group has the opportunity to present three dances: a welcome and a farewell dance — one of which must include a chant in local language — and a ‘wildcard’ dance of the group’s choosing. These are judged by an expert judging panel for their technical skill and engagement with language, skin-markings and traditional instruments.
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3 itemsDanceRites 2024
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Celebrating First Nations dance groups from across the country - Streamed live from the Sydney Opera House Forecourt.
DanceRites continues the traditions that have taken place over tens of thousands of years on Bennelong Point, known to its traditional custodians as Tubowgule.This year, nearly...
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DanceRites 2024: Heats
Broadcast live from the Forecourt from 2pm, nearly 20 dance groups will take to the Sand Circle to perform at Tubowgule, showcasing the richness and diversity of their cultures. Each group will showcase their local storytelling and language in the Cultural Dance and Song cycle.
Schedule
2:00 PM... -
DanceRites 2024: Wild Cards
Broadcast live from the Forecourt from 2pm, many of the dance groups will take to the Sand Circle to perform for a second time this weekend at Tubowgule, showcasing the richness and diversity of their cultures. Groups will showcase a ‘Wild Card’ dance - exploring contemporary or cultural dance a...
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DanceRites 2024: Finals
Broadcast live from the Forecourt from 5pm, join us as the 8 finalists are revealed and compete to become the winners of DanceRites 2024. Each group will take to the Sand Circle to perform at Tubowgule, showcasing the richness and diversity of their cultures and will include guest dance performan...
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DanceRites 2023 - The Finals
First Nations culture explored through dance
Since its inception in 2015, more than 1300 participants from 95 dance groups have joined Australia’s national First Nations dance competition at Bennelong Point, a First Nations meeting place for tens of thousands of years.
Witness the powerful comi...
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DANCERITES Deadly Moments (2021)
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are warned that the following content may contain images and voices of deceased persons.
For almost 10 years, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have travelled to Sydney to take part in Sydney Opera House’s various First Nations Festivals ...
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DanceRites 2020 - Traditional #1
Witness the powerful coming together of traditional customs, language and contemporary culture with First Nations dancers from around Australia.
Episode 1 of the Traditional Dance Heat reveals continuance of song cycles and language and age-old welcomes.
Dance groups: Naygayiw Gigi Dance Troup...
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DanceRites 2020 - Traditional #2
Witness the powerful coming together of traditional customs, language and contemporary culture with First Nations dancers from around Australia.
Episode 2 of the Traditional Dance Heat reveals continuance of song cycles and language and age-old welcomes.
Dance groups: Mornington Island Dancer...
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DanceRites 2020 - Wildcard #1
Witness the powerful coming together of traditional customs, language and contemporary culture with First Nations dancers from around Australia.
The Wildcard Dance is open to any style, often reflecting our shared histories, with some groups telling old comical stories, and others exploring more...
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Dance Rites 2020 - Wildcard #2
Witness the powerful coming together of traditional customs, language and contemporary culture with First Nations dancers from around Australia.
The Wildcard Dance is open to any style, often reflecting our shared histories, with some groups telling old comical stories, and others exploring more...
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DanceRites 2020 - Finals
Witness the powerful coming together of traditional customs, language and contemporary culture, with First Nations dancers from around Australia.
Finalists: Guba Marki, Karajarri, Naygayiw Gigi Dance Troupe, Nunukul Yuggera Aboriginal Dancers, Mornington Island Dancers, Injinoo Storm Thathilgau ...
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Dance Rites 2019 - First Nations Dance & Culture
Dance Rites — Australia’s First Nations dance competition — is the Sydney Opera House’s free celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island dance and cultures on the Sydney Opera House Forecourt, taking place each spring. In November 2019, more than 350 performers from 19 Aboriginal and Torre...
