A guide to DanceRites

DanceRites, Australia’s First Nations dance competition, is our free, two-day celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander dance and cultures on the Sydney Opera House Forecourt. Inspired by the Pow Wow Circuit in Turtle Island/North America and Kapa Haka competitions in Aotearoa New Zealand, DanceRites was first established in 2015 as part of the Sydney Opera House’s Homeground festival under the visionary leadership of the late Rhoda Roberts AO. With participation doubling in its first two years, DanceRites evolved as a standalone festival in 2018, moving from the Western Broadwalk to the Forecourt to become a cornerstone First Nations event in the Opera House calendar.

DanceRites draws together performers representing nations from across the country. 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, storytelling and dance for tens of thousands of years. 

All dance groups have the opportunity to compete in two categories. Each group will present a Cultural Dance and Song cycle representing their local storytelling and language. A panel of First Nations practitioners assess each performance against key criteria, with leading groups progressing to the Finals. 

Groups can also take part in a second optional category, presenting a ‘Wild Card’ dance. This category can explore any dance style and gives each group the opportunity to show off their style, techniques and to wow the audience.

Learn the words

Glossary

In Australian First Nations culture, language is more than just a means to communicate — it is inherently connected with the land and has deep spiritual significance. Each language came to the ancestral Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people during the Dreamtime; it’s through these unique languages that communities maintain their connection with their ancestors, land, law and culture. 

Below is a glossary of important words commonly used to discuss community life, connection to Country, song, dance and cultural lore. There are over 120 surviving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages in Australia, many with unique spellings and pronunciations. We’ve included common meanings for these words here along with audio samples voiced by the late Rhoda Roberts AO as a guide, honouring her lasting contribution to sharing and celebrating First Nations culture and language.

Corroboree 
 
A Dharug word that has become part of Australia’s identity. It describes a place of ceremony and creative expression, a transformative gathering for New South Wales. 
 
Country 
 
A term used by Aboriginal people to refer to the land to which they belong and their place of Dreaming. Use of the word ‘Country’ in Aboriginal language is much broader than standard English. 
 
Custodian 
 
A person charged with maintaining and passing on particular elements of cultural significance including: knowledge, stories, song, dances, language, ritual and imagery. 
 
Yidaki 
 
A family of hollow, wooden instruments connected to Yolngu Law and ceremony in song, dance, visual art and narrative. The word ‘didgeridoo’ is an introduced, generic term that lacks the significance and precision of the diverse names for this instrument. 
 
Missions (the Mish)/Reserves  
 
Missions/Reserves. Areas originally set up and governed by the government (Aborigines Protection/Welfare Boards) or Christian religious denominations for Aboriginal people to live. Missions implemented the government policies of the times to control Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander lives. Aboriginal people associate the term with trauma suffered from poor living conditions, forced assimilation, segregation, restriction of culture and language, forced labour and abuse, rarely with positive memories. 
 
Homeland/Country 
 
Homelands, territories, and estates are located on Aboriginal ancestral lands with cultural and spiritual significance to the First Nations people who live there. Complex connections to land include cultural, spiritual and environmental obligations, including obligations for the protection of sacred sites. 

Nation 

A group of Aboriginal people who share an area of land, river and sea that is their traditional land. A nation has a number of clan or language groups. 

Explore a map of First Nations/Aboriginal Country on the AIATSIS website
 
Moiety systems 
 
Skin names are divided into two groups, ‘sun side’ and ‘shade side’, exists across regions. Most language groups also use a section or subsection system with four to eight ‘skin names’. An individual gains a skin name upon birth based on the skin names of their parents, to indicate the section / subsection that they belong to. 
 
Dhari 
 
The distinctive traditional dance and ceremonial headdress of the Torres Strait. The dancer’s headdress is the main symbol on the flag for the Torres Strait region and represents unity for the people.

Place and land

Acknowledgement of Country 

An Acknowledgement of Country is a way of recognising the traditional custodians’ ongoing connection with the land, and of respecting Aboriginal culture and heritage. It can be given by persons of any background. 

Dreaming 

The Dreaming can be seen as an embodiment of Aboriginal creation which gives meaning to everything. It establishes the rules governing relationships between the people, the land and all things for Aboriginal people. The word itself has different meanings for different Aboriginal groups. 

Indigenous 

Native to a place or area, originating in and characterising a particular region or country, also including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. ‘Indigenous Australians’ is a term used to refer to the original inhabitants of Australia; it is always capitalised. Many Aboriginal people don’t like the term to be used to refer to them. 

Tjukurrpa 

A central Australian word for Dreaming. 

People and community

Aboriginal and First Nations 

Usually refers to the First Peoples of mainland Australia and other countries such as Canada and Taiwan. 

ATSI 

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. Note that this abbreviation is not liked by many Aboriginal people due to its use in discriminating contexts. 

Bossman, bosswoman 

Connected to Dreaming and Traditional lores, they carry the knowledge for a particular song, dance and story of landscape ancestors. 

Clan 

Many Aboriginal nations are broken into clan groups with their own unique language, dialects and borders. Some clan members cannot marry one another under kinship. 

Community 

A community includes many important elements: country, family ties and shared experience. Community is about connection and belonging, and is central to Aboriginality. Aboriginal people may belong to more than one community. 

Custodian 

A person charged with maintaining and passing on particular elements of cultural significance including: knowledge, stories, song, dances, language, ritual and imagery. 

Custodial Elder 

The key go-to person within Aboriginal communities, respected and consulted due to their experience, wisdom, knowledge, background and insight. Often described as the ‘custodians of knowledge’ or the ‘libraries’ of a community. ‘Elder’ does not necessarily equate with age. 

First Peoples 

The term First Peoples is often used synonymously with ‘Aboriginal people’ or ‘Indigenous people’. 

Kinship 

The importance of all relationships, and of being related to and belonging to the land. It’s a complex system that determines how people relate to each other and their roles, responsibilities and obligations in relation to one another, ceremonial business and land. 

Mob 

Colloquial term used by Aboriginal people to refer to a group of people they belong to. 

Torres Strait Islanders 

Refers to the First Peoples of the Torres Strait region (as compared to the mainland people).

Song and dance

Bunggul 

A north Australian (Yolngu) word describing a song with dance, or ceremonial dance performance. 

Inma 

In Anangu culture, the art of dance is reserved for a very small number of special events and is therefore rarely seen. This dance is called an ‘inma’. Every move and sound is rich with ancient meaning. 

Warup 

The Torres Strait Islands’ traditional drum are used for celebrations, island dancing and singing. The drum is carved and hollowed from driftwood. Goanna skin is stretched over the drum and held in place with a split bamboo holding ring sealed with beeswax.

Law and culture

Artefact 

Any object made or modified by Aboriginal people, often stone tools or wooden objects. A group of artefacts (especially stone tools) located on the ground surface is referred to as ‘artefact scatter’. 

Assimilation 

A 19th century idea that Aboriginal people should become white, convert to Christianity and learn how to work and live as Europeans. From the 1930s assimilation became Australian government policy. With many living under what was known as the Aborigines Protection Act, in 1969 it became known as the Aborigines Act and was repealed in 1983. 

Culture 

The accepted and traditionally patterned ways of behaving, and a set of common understandings shared by members of a group or community. Includes land, language, spirituality, ways of living and working, artistic expression, relationships and identity. 

Customary law 

Based on traditions and customs of a particular group in a specific region. Also referred to as ‘lore’. 

Decolonisation 

Describes the ending of colonisation and the liberation of those who were colonised. The process includes dismantling the colonial state and its laws. The ultimate goal is the self-determination of those who were colonised. Those pursuing decolonisation start by reconnecting with kin and country, and disengaging with the colonial system. 

Language group 

Language is linked to particular geographical areas. The term ‘language group’ is often used in preference to the term ‘tribe’, and many Aboriginal people identify themselves through their language group. 

Lore 

The learning and transmission of cultural heritage. See also: ‘customary law’. 

Makarrata 

Denotes a domestic treaty between the Commonwealth government and Aboriginal people. It comes from a word in the Yolngu language meaning coming together after a struggle, facing the facts of wrongs and living again in peace. 

Message stick 

A message stick is a form of communication used by groups entering other clan and nation boundaries. Message sticks were incised and carved, passed between different clans and language groups to establish information and transmit messages and walk across country on invitation and safe passage. 

Midden 

Originally a Danish word, now used for a large heap of shell and other food remains left by Aboriginal people at camp sites which build up over an extended period of time. Middens are often found near rock platforms and in proximity of fresh water. 

Songline 

A songline (also known as a ‘Dreaming Track’ or ‘Trade Routes’) is a path across the land which marks the journey of creator-beings as they created the lakes, rivers, plants, land formations and living creatures during the Dreaming. Songlines are recorded in traditional songs, stories, dance, and painting. 

Sorry Business 

An English expression mostly adopted from mainland Aboriginal people to refer to a period of cultural practices and protocols associated with death. The most widespread ceremonies of Sorry Business are conducted around the bereavement and funerals for a deceased person. 

Sovereignty 

The ultimate power, authority or jurisdiction over a people and a territory. No other person, group, tribe or state can tell a sovereign entity what to do with its land or people. A sovereign entity can decide and administer its own laws, determine the use of its land and do pretty much as it pleases, free of external influence—within the limitations of international law. Sovereignty is a more precise term than ‘self-determination’. 

Woomera 

A wooden device used to throw spears. The woomera is held in one hand while the other hand places the butt of the spear on the woomera’s hook. From the Dharug Language of Sydney and the Blue Mountains.

Watch highlights from previous years

Watch the DanceRites 2024 finals

Watch the DanceRites 2023 finals

Watch the DanceRites 2020 finals

Watch the DanceRites 2019 finals

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge and thank the late Rhoda Roberts AO for her visionary leadership in creating DanceRites. Her legacy continues to bring together First Nations communities, celebrating the strength, diversity and continuity of culture through dance, song and storytelling.

Event Sponsor
Harbour Trust

Media Sponsor
NITV

The Sydney Opera House thanks its Idealist donors, Event Sponsor Sydney Harbour Federation Trust, and Event Media Partner NITV for their generous support of DanceRites 2026.  

A very special thank you to Sydney Harbour Federation Trust for providing accommodation for dance groups on Cockatoo Island / Wareamah.  

And thank you to Dunghutti Biripi artist Wanita Lowe for the creation of our new DanceRites artwork. 

Thanks to all past participants and performers of DanceRites 
 
Words 
Rhoda Roberts AO, Francesca Hughes 
 
Illustrations 
Wanita Lowe 

Campaign Creative 
Sydney Opera House Creative Studio 

Photography 
Daniel Boud and Joseph Mayers