DanceRites 2024 Registrations

DanceRites is Australia’s national First Nations dance competition, and will be held on the Sydney Opera House Forecourt on 19 and 20 October 2024.

Dance groups from across the nation will share their culture and compete for the $22,000 DanceRites prize. The competition is open to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community dance groups.

Each dance group will present a Cultural Dance and Song Cycle representing local storytelling and language and can also take part in a second optional category, presenting a ‘Wild Card’ dance.

Prizes
The winning group will receive $22,000.
One group will be awarded runner-up with a prize of $6,000.
Two groups will be honoured with a Rites of Passage award of $4,000 each, to acknowledge outstanding contributions to revitalising cultural knowledge and practices.
One group will be awarded the best Wild Card dance with a prize of $5,000.

Friday 18th October 2024
Official welcome for participants at Cockatoo Island/Wareamah

Saturday 19th October 2024
Day 1 of DanceRites
Welcome to Country & Ceremony
Cultural Dance and Song Cycle heats

Sunday 20th October 2024
Day 2 of DanceRites
Wild Card dance
Cultural Dance and Song Cycle finals

Groups will perform on a 12m diameter sand circle, please keep this in mind when preparing your competition content.

All groups must participate in the Cultural Dance and Song Cycle category within a time limit of 8 minutes including introductions and acknowledgements.

The 8 highest scoring groups from the Cultural Dance and Song Cycle heats on the Saturday will move forward to the finals on Sunday. Those eight dance groups will perform what they perceive as their best dances from the Cultural Dance and Song Cycle presentation and must be between 5 and 8 minutes including introductions and acknowledgments.

The DanceRites judges will consist of First Nations respected dance and song line custodians, professional choreographers and dance practitioners.

Competing dance groups will receive the Judging Criteria once they are accepted to compete in the competition. The criteria will also be made public closer to the event.

Your Cultural Dance and Song Cycle representing your community through local storytelling, language and dance must not exceed 8 minutes. 

The ‘Wild Card’ dance is optional - this can explore contemporary or cultural dance and must not exceed 3 minutes. This is the opportunity for your group to show off your style and create a dance (with no restraints) that wows the audience. Go wild! This presentation must be different from the Cultural Dance and Song Cycle.

Teaching and learning cultural practices is an essential way to reclaim and expand on existing songlines and connection to country and culture.

Connect with your community and continue intergenerational exchange of story and ceremony.

DanceRites will be fun, but most importantly, it’s a way to get your community to come together.

• DanceRites is open to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community dance groups.

• Dance groups must submit a video with their registration of their group performing (a minimum of 2 minutes and maximum of 3 minutes).

• Participants must be over 13 years old and accompanied by a nominated guardian.

• Any performers aged under 18 will need to have a signed ‘Under 18 Participant Release Form’.

• Please let us know if this is required for your group and we will send you the form.

• You can enter as an all-male, all-female, or combined group.

Accommodation on Cockatoo Island/Wareamah will be available on 18 - 21 October 2024 for eligible participants.  Accommodation includes a tent with a raised single camp bed. However, participants will need to bring their own sleeping bag and towels. There are toilets and hot showers, as well as accessible toilets and hot showers. Please specify if your group has any accessibility requirements.

Please note, Cockatoo Island/Wareamah was previously used as a convict gaol and home for children. More information about the history of Cockatoo Island/Wareamah.

Groups are welcome to find their own accommodation (at their own expense) if preferred. Groups that are not staying on Cockatoo Island/Wareamah will be responsible for their own planning and travel to Sydney Opera House.

Sydney Opera House is a short walk to public transport and is easily accessible. We will be organising transport to and from Cockatoo Island/Wareamah which is only accessible by boat/public ferry.

If your dance group is from a rural, remote, or regional area and needs funding assistance to travel to Sydney to compete in DanceRites, we may be able to provide support. Please don't hesitate to reach out if you'd like to discuss this further.

DanceRites Judges

The five DanceRites judges will consist of respected First Nations dance and songline custodians, professional choreographers, and dance practitioners.

Cultural Dance and Song Cycle – Heats: Saturday 19 October; Finals: Sunday 20 October. 

This category represents the dance groups' community and culture through storytelling, dance, song and language.

The five judges will submit their individual scores for each participating dance group, followed by a group discussion on the performances, scores and rankings. 

At the conclusion of the Heats on Day One, the judges will combine the individual scores and discuss the rankings, and the merits of each dance group in relation to each element of the criteria. 

Once the final scores have been decided, the head judge will inform the DanceRites team of the Top Eight scoring groups who will move forward into the Finals on Sunday. The eight finalist groups will be advised on Saturday evening by the DanceRites team. After competing in the Finals, one Winner and one Runner Up will be decided from the Top Eight dance groups. The winner will be announced in the Awards Ceremony. 

Each Cultural Dance and Song Cycle presentation must be between 5 minutes and a maximum of 8 minutes. This includes introductions & acknowledgements by the dance groups. Any group that goes over the 8 minute time limit will have points deducted from their final score, with 1 point deducted for each 30 seconds over time. Performances that exceed 10 minutes will be disqualified.

The Cultural Dance and Song Cycle performances (both Heats and Finals) will be judged out of a total 40 points on the following criteria: 

• Storytelling: 10 points 
• Style and Technique: 20 points
• Song and Language: 10 points
   

Wild Card Dance – Sunday 20 October

This category can explore any dance style. This dance gives each group the opportunity to show off their style and techniques and to wow the audience. This presentation must be different from the Cultural Dance and Song Cycle.

The five judges will submit their individual scores for each participating dance group, followed by a group discussion on the performances, scores and rankings. 

The judges will combine the individual scores and discuss the rankings, and the merits of each dance group in relation to each element of the criteria.

One winner of the Wild Card category will be decided on Sunday, immediately following the performances. The winner will be announced in the Awards Ceremony, after the Cultural Dance and Song Cycle Finals have concluded. 

Each Wild Card entry can be a maximum of 3 minutes, including introductions & acknowledgements by the dance groups. There is no minimum length requirement, and performances of less than 3 minutes will be accepted. 1 point will be deducted for each 30 seconds over time. Performances that exceed 5 minutes will be disqualified.

The Wild Card performance will be judged out of a total 40 points on the following criteria:

• Creativity: 10 points 
• Style and Technique: 20 points

• Music: 10 points

Additionally, there will be two Rites of Passage awards to recognise those who have made significant contributions to the revitalisation and continuation of cultural knowledge and practices across the generations.

These awards will not be scored, but will be decided by the unanimous decision of the five judges after viewing all the dance groups over the two days of competition.