My review of Reviewing a Pedagogy for the Bodenwieser Technique was published online by CBR CityNews on 7 September 2026, following the initiative in which James Batchelor’s work for a Masters degree relating to the technique of Gertrud Bodenwieser was discussed. The review below is a slightly enlarged version of the CityNews post. Follow this link to the CityNews review.
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3 September 2026. The Street Theatre, Canberra
Canberra’s dance community gathered recently at The Street Theatre for an event in the series Wellspring: Inquiry and Exchange, a regular collaborative endeavour between The Street and the ANU School of Literature, Languages and Linguistics. This particular Wellspring occasion had the specific name ‘Reviewing a Pedagogy for the Bodenwieser Technique’ and was part of the ANU Masters degree program being undertaken by choreographer James Batchelor.
The evening was introduced by ANU researcher and coordinator of the Wellspring program, Leslie Barnes, and was sponsored by the ANU and the team at The Street via Caroline Stacey. The main participants were Batchelor himself; Ruth Osborne, a former student of Bodenwieser and as also former artistic director of Quantum Leap Australia and teacher of the Bodenwieser technique; and Wesley Lim, senior lecturer at the ANU and supervisor of Batchelor’s research.
The program for the evening consisted of a spoken introduction from Lim on the history of Bodenwieser technique, especially in Australia. It was followed by a further introduction from Osborne of specific aspects of the technique; and then a demonstration, led by Osborne and performed by a small group of dancers, including Batchelor and Lim, of certain elements of the technique. Finally, we watched a solo, created and performed by Batchelor, on aspects of the technique that had been previously discussed. A Q&A session concluded the evening.
While both the discussion and performances, especially the group dancing demonstrating Bodenwieser’s use of a figure-of-eight movement by the body, were more than interesting, one aspect of the conversation bothered me somewhat. There was some discussion by Batchelor and Osborne that Bodenwieser is not as well-known in Australia as she should be, given the major influence her technique has created.
Perhaps it is necessary for some kind of teacher training to be introduced that should suggest that Bodenwieser’s name be added to teaching and technique development.
From a personal point of view, I recall as a student often being asked to carry out a particular ballet barre exercise called ‘Danilova grands battements’. It was a development of a standard exercise, the grand battement, but was something of an evolution invented by well-known Ballets Russes dancer Alexandra Danilova. I also discovered that part of a solo performance I did at a studio performance came from George Balanchine’s famous early work Serenade. So, thanks to my teacher at the time, I was well aware I was dancing material created by previous and much-admired artists. It was a thrill to know this and I suspect the same might occur for Bodenwieser students if teachers were trained to add her name somewhere during a class.
Below are two images of Bodenwieser teaching in 1955. They were created by Eric Cuckson who offered Bodenwieser classes initially to children of workers employed in his factory at St Mary’s in western Sydney, and then to the general public. Bodenwieser has her back to the camera in both images. She is wearing a black outfit with cross-over straps at the back. The photos here are posted with the kind permission of Barbara Cuckson.
For more about Eric Cuckson, his work and his family see this link.
Michelle Potter, 8 September 2026
For more about James Batchelor on this site see this tag. And for more about Gertrud Bodenwieser see here.
Featured image: James Batchelor speaking during ‘Reviewing a Pedagogy for the Bodenwieser Technique’, 2026. Photo: © Olivia Wikner, O&J Wikner photography.
