Vale Rhoda Roberts

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that the following tribute contains names and images of deceased persons.

BlakDance acknowledges the passing of Rhoda Roberts AO, Widjabul Wia bal woman of the Bundjalung Nation, and one of the most influential cultural leaders of our time.

Aunty Rhoda did not simply work within the arts. She transformed the conditions in which First Nations artists could exist, lead and be seen. Her work redefined how culture is held, shared and respected across this country and internationally. She formalised and embedded protocols such as Welcome to Country within the performing arts and festivals, ensuring cultural authority sits at the centre of how we gather, present and exchange.

Her leadership shaped some of the most significant platforms for First Nations performance and cultural exchange. From the Festival of the Dreaming and the Sydney Olympic Games to her role as Head of Indigenous Programming at Sydney Opera House, Aunty Rhoda consistently placed our artists at the forefront, where they belong.

Across the country, she led and shaped major festivals including Boomerang at Bluesfest, Garma, Parrtjima and Shine on Gimuy, among many others, ensuring First Nations culture was held with integrity at scale. She also created and guided major gatherings that continue to define the sector, including Dance Rites and Clancestry, establishing spaces where culture, community and excellence meet on our terms.

Aunty Rhoda’s impact on the development of the sector was profound. Her contributions began with the early formation of contemporary First Nations theatre in this country, as an actor involved in the first and second National Black Playwrights Conferences in 1987 and 1989, and through the subsequent establishment of the Aboriginal National Theatre Trust alongside Lydia Miller and Vivian Walker. This work laid important foundations for the First Nations performing arts sector as it exists today.

She went on to shape the national and international ecology for First Nations performance. Through her leadership at APAM, including the first Indigenous showcase in 2012 at Carclew Arts in Adelaide and her curatorial role across subsequent Brisbane iterations, she shifted the market’s understanding of First Nations work and opened doors that had long been closed.

She contributed to the establishment of BlakLines in 2012, the first national Indigenous touring circuit developed through Creative Australia and delivered with Performing Lines. This created a national touring pathway for First Nations work to circulate on its own terms, governed by First Nations cultural authority, and reach audiences across the country.

She continued to lead at critical moments of sector development, including the BlakDance Dana Waranara Conference in 2015, which brought together independent First Nations choreographers and presenters to shape a shared vision for dance in this country. During this period, BlakDance partnered with Aunty Rhoda through Boomerang Festival to platform First Nations dance within a major national context, and she led the BlakDance presenter series with Kirk Page at the National Indigenous Dance Forum in 2017, strengthening dialogue between artists and presenters and influencing the touring landscape.

Her international leadership extended these connections beyond Australia. She led the Global First Nations Exchange that BlakDance produced in 2018, alongside Canadian First Nations leader Denise Bolduc, connecting First Nations artists, curators and producers across nations in ways that continue to resonate.

This built on earlier international work, including her leadership of a First Nations dance ensemble at the Musée du quai Branly in Paris, featuring artists including Dujon Niue, Peta Strachan and Djakapurra Munyarryun.

Her contributions across performance, media and cultural leadership are extensive and far reaching, and cannot be fully captured here.

She was deeply committed to developing the next generation of producers and cultural leaders. She led the Creative Australia Emerging Indigenous Producers delegation to the Festival of Pacific Arts in the Solomon Islands, creating pathways for First Nations producers to engage internationally and contributing to the growth of a generation of practitioners who continue to shape the sector. She shared her networks with generosity and intent, nurturing the next generation of producers and leaders as a matriarch within the field.

For BlakDance, Aunty Rhoda’s impact is both structural and deeply personal.

She was a mentor, a guide and a fierce advocate for the next generation. She led delegations, championed emerging producers and opened doors across this country and internationally. Many of the producing pathways and networks that exist today are a direct result of her vision and advocacy.

Aunty Rhoda’s guidance extended directly into our work. She joined us for the First Nations Performing Arts Workforce Development Roundtable in Naarm in 2023, contributing her knowledge, experience and cultural authority to shaping the future of our sector. Like so many, we experienced her generosity first hand. She made time, she made space, and she ensured that those coming behind her were equipped to lead.

She carried her Bundjalung identity with pride and responsibility, grounding all of her work in service to community. Her life was defined by this principle. That we are here to give back. That we are here to hold culture and to carry it forward.

Aunty Rhoda redefined the terms on which the performing arts operate in this country. More importantly, she changed who it is for, and how it is held.

Her legacy lives on in every stage where First Nations artists stand in their full authority. In every gathering where cultural protocol is honoured. In every producer, curator and artist who continues the work she began.

Her journey here is complete. She returns now to her Ancestors, held in spirit and in the legacy she leaves with us.

We extend our deepest respects to her partner, children, family and community, and to all who were guided and held by her throughout her life.

Nunyabhu Aunty Rhoda. Your impact is immeasurable and will continue to shape generations to come.

BlakDance Australia Ltd

Image credits: Mick Richards Photography