RISE 2026 is a welcoming and inclusive gathering of global Indigenous creativity.

This edition celebrates the powerful relationships between land, body, and story. It foregrounds cultural respect, ethical collaboration, and Indigenous leadership, guided by a commitment to cultural safety.

RISE 2026 honours the sovereignty and identity of participating artists, ensuring that all communications and festival experiences are grounded in reciprocity and care.

Through these encounters, audiences are invited to explore themes of belonging, kinship, environmental consciousness, and intergenerational knowledge.

Featured artists include Oji-cree artist Lara Kramer (Turtle Island Canada) with Gorgeous Tongue and This is the Place Where We Pray in Findhorn (29–31 May) and Gorgeous Tongue at Tramway (6 June); Daina Ashbee’s Serpentine in Findhorn (29–31 May) and Tramway (3 June); award-winning theatre maker and choregrapher Jacob Boehme (Narungga and Kaurna Nations, South Australia) adapting GUURANDA X in Findhorn (29–31 May); and Larrakia choreographer (Northern Territory Australia) Gary Lang’s The Other Side of Me at Lyth Arts Centre (23 May) and Eden Court (27 May).

Barbara Diabo of Kanien’keha:ka (Mohawk) nation of Turtle Island and Martha Hincapié Charry (Colombia / Berlin) have played a crucial role in shaping the programme of Global Indigenous Voices at RISE 2026, curating a series of workshops, talks and events - including We Are the Land (Fri 29 May) in Findhorn - and helping ensure the festival is held with the cultural care and protocols it requires. 

RISE takes a step towards decolonisation by integrating, into the core structure of its festival, perspectives and ontologies that challenge the predominantly white gaze present within the ecosystem of cultural initiatives,  by incorporating them into the decision-making process that affects BIPoC (Black, Indigenous and People of Colour) peoples.

If decolonisation is not merely a performative statement, but aims to intersectionally penetrate the layers of what it means for white cultural workers to make decisions about underrepresented bodies, these bodies must be included in the seminal processes. 

RISE 2026 is presented in partnership with: BlakDance, Creative Scotland, Eden Court, Lyth Arts Centre, Tramway, Creative Australia, British Council of Australia, Gary Lang NT Dance Company, Northern Territory Government, Northumbria University, AANT Centre, Québec Government Office in London (DGQL), Goethe Institut, Beaverbrook Canadian Foundation, The Work Room, Touring Network and Highland Archive Centre.

Dance North welcomes local communities, students, families, global majority audiences and people of all abilities into a festival shaped by place and people. It continues Dance North’s commitment to decolonial practice, inclusive programming, and bold contemporary performance rooted in land, culture and connection.