DANCE RITES

Matthew Doyle was born and raised in Sydney, he is a Descendant of the Muruwari People from Northwest NSW. Studied at NAISDA College 1985-88 and then became a founding member of AIDT the Company. Matthew is a Dancer, Musician, Songman, Didgeridoo player, Cultural Consultant and Educator with over 30 years experience in the Performing Arts across all genres.

“I am excited to be a Dance Rites Judge as I have performed at Dance Rites and have attended every other year to observe. What I am most excited about is seeing the new up and coming talent and what they can produce and offer to the Indigenous and the wider community in general -  a small taste of the rich culture that we have to offer and share.”

Juanita Duncan is a proud gamilaraay woman based on the central coast NSW, she graduated from NAISDA in 2009 and she has been performing and teaching ever since. Juanita has had the opportunity to travel to some of the most remote places nationally and internationally with many different organisations. Her passion is dance and sharing what she has learnt to the next generation. Some of Juanita's career highlights have been representing her mob in national reconciliation week on a South East Asia tour, her work with the amazing HOT BROWN HONEY show and working with organisations such as Vibe Deadly, Indigenous Hip Hop projects and numerous dance groups performing and teaching all styles of dance from cultural to hip hop to even cabaret.

“I'm excited to be a judge for the 2019 Dance Rites for a number of reasons such as sharing culture, being inspired and most of all the passion that I felt for the 2017 Dance Rites. I was brought to tears seeing the support and the next generation being involved, learning and being able to show their culture on such an amazing platform. Dance Rites showcases how strong our mob are from different parts of this country and how different we show our stories from all the different tribes/clans.”

Waangenga Blanco is a dancer, choreographer and actor. Who for the past 13 years has performed as a senior artist at Bangarra Dance Theatre.

A proud indigenous man who descends from the Pajinka wik in Cape York and Meriam Mer the furthest eastern island in the Torres Strait.

His desire to learn more about his culture began with his love for dance. After studying at Naisda for 3 years he was invited to dance professionally for Bangarra.

Waangenga has toured globally as a representative of Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander culture. His unwavering passion for his craft lead him to choreograph 'I.B.I.S' for  Bangarra's 2015 National Tour where in the same year he won the 'Australian Dance Awards’ prize for 'Outstanding Performance by a Male Dancer'. With numerous nominations throughout his career, Blanco also took home a Green Room Award for Outstanding Male Dancer for his work in 2014’s production of Patyegarang. 

But Waangenga's most cherished career highlights are returning to country with 'I.B.I.S' to T.I and performing to remote communities all the way from Lake Eyre to far North Eastern Arnhem Land.

Waangenga is an advocate for maintaining Indigenous culture in our modern world, and is dedicated to educating  and mentoring the next generation of storytellers.

"Im super excited to witness the talent of our people and the showcase of many different dance styles from so many nations that make up this wonderful country we call home".  - WB

Libby Collins is Bangarra’s Dance Theatre’s Community Engagement Manager. She is a Tiwi Islander, born and raised in Darwin and has spent the past eight years working in Sydney in various roles in national organisations, specifically in Indigenous affairs, prior to Bangarra. She has a background in media and marketing as well as community engagement and consultancy.