Wayne McGregor Awards 2026 Biennale Danza Lions to Bangarra Dance Theatre and Mamela Nyamza

Wayne McGregor, artistic director of the Dance section of La Biennale di Venezia, has awarded the 2026 Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement to Bangarra Dance Theatre, Australia's leading First Nations dance company composed entirely of Aboriginal dancers. The Silver Lion goes to South African dancer, choreographer, director, and activist Mamela Nyamza. Both artists share a deep connection to identity roots and signal an opening to non-Eurocentric dance traditions. Bangarra, founded in 1989, draws on 65,000 years of Aboriginal culture to create performances blending movement, music, poetry, and design. Led by Stephen Page from 1991 to 2022, the company gained international success. Current leaders are dancer and choreographer Frances Ring and executive director Louise Ingram. Bangarra will present 'Terrain' at the 20th International Festival of Contemporary Dance of La Biennale di Venezia on July 25-26, inspired by the Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre salt lake. Mamela Nyamza (born 1976 in Gugulethu, Cape Town) combines classical, modern, jazz, gumboot, and butoh training with political engagement. She will perform 'The Herd/Less' on July 19 and 21, exploring the dual meaning of 'herd' as collective harmony and loss of autonomy. McGregor stated his aim to highlight artists who have provoked epochal change in understanding dance and cultural context.