Narungga ceremony travels to RISE Festival, in a rich Australia–UK cultural exchange

In May 2026, GUURANDA x RISE will premiere at RISE Festival of Contemporary Dance and Performance, Findhorn, Scotland presented by Dance North. Here Scottish voices will sing in Narungga language and stories of the Yorke Peninsula will be exchanged with stories of the Scottish Highlands.

The Scottish performance, will premiere on 31st May, and marks a second major international collaboration between Narungga/ Kaurna Artistic Director Jacob Boehme and local participants. In Scotland this includes the Sing Moray Choir, Dance North youth dancers and local cultural experts Lynda Buchan and Lorna Steele-McGinn.

This landmark cultural exchange adapts the acclaimed mainstage production Guuranda, the Narungga name for Yorke Peninsula, South Australia where the creation stories shared in the work are held, originally commissioned and presented by Adelaide Festival in 2024.

GUURANDA x RISE reimagines the show as a community-engaged, participatory public ceremony. The Scottish presentation extends the original intentions of Guuranda: to protect, revitalise, and share Narungga culture, language and creation stories, and to leave a legacy of deepened cross-cultural understanding.

Over the past six months, Sing Moray Choir and the RISE Festival team have been learning Narungga culture through online yarns with Narungga Elders and collaborating with Boehme. The choir will perform a score in Narungga language, sharing these stories in Scotland for the first time.

Narungga Elder Aunty Lynette Newchurch said the project reflects a deep cultural responsibility to ensure stories are shared with care and integrity.

“For Narungga people, sharing our stories is a responsibility given by our Old People. To see young people in India learning our language and singing our creation stories was something we never imagined. It shows our culture is strong, and it shows the respect between our communities. This project is important because it keeps our stories alive and helps them travel the right way — with care, with guidance, and with family.’

This follows closely on the creation of GUURANDA x KMMC, the first step in this new collaboration model, made in partnership with KM Music Conservatory, and Shreya Nagarajan Singh Arts Development Consultancy in Chennai, India during March 2026.

Aunty Lynette, dancer Karra Nam and sound designer KC Taunoa Brown performed in the India production and are now travelling to Findhorn to co-create the performance with Sing Moray community choir members and local dancers.

GUURANDA X is exploring an environmentally responsible concept-touring and cultural exchange model grounded in Narungga and First Nations principles of caring for Country. Instead of transporting large sets, costumes or infrastructure, the small creative team works with local artists, materials and teams in each city, reducing freight emissions and deepening community engagement. This model is a prototype for future sustainable touring of First Nations performance where participation engenders greater learning for the partners.

Artistic Director Jacob Boehme said this new model of First Nations led touring marks an important evolution of the original Guuranda work.

“GUURANDA X is more than a performance, it is a living exchange, a responsibility, and an offering. I’m deeply grateful to the Elders, students, teachers and artists who have embraced Narungga language and story with such respect and enthusiasm. This project is a glimpse of the future we’re building: one where culture is carried sustainably, shared generously, and kept strong through relationships.”

The collaboration will be shared via public performances on Sunday May 31st to close the weekend of RISE Festival, where the audience will join the company to perform the work as a collective ceremony. Guuranda x RISE is proudly produced by Jacob Boehme and Pippa Bailey with support from British Council, Create SA, Creative Australia’s International Development fund and Creative Scotland.

GUURANDA X is part of the Global First Nations Dialogues at RISE, developed with BlakDance, an Australian industry organisation for First Nations contemporary dancers and choreographers.

Merindah Donnelly, Blak Dance’s co-CEO Executive Producer says, “BlakDance is proud to support GUURANDA X and Jacob Boehme’s growing international ecology of Indigenous led exchange and climate conscious cultural touring methodologies. This work has been supported through our long-term international relationship building with RISE, including the Global First Nations Dialogues developed through our British Council partnerships and broader First Nations exchange activity internationally. GUURANDA X reflects the power of cultural sovereignty, care for Country and reciprocal learning across communities.”

Visit https://www.risefestival.scot/guuranda-x-rise to learn more about GUURANDA X RISE.

GUURANDA x RISE. Image supplied