It is always interesting to see the impact a change in artistic directorship has on the repertoire of a dance company. Newly appointed director of Queensland Ballet, Spanish-born Ivan Gil-Ortega, has announced a program for 2026 in which Queensland Ballet will perform works from a range of overseas-based choreographers, reflecting Gil-Ortega’s strong European background and dance heritage.
Christian Spuck from Germany, for example, will open the season with a staging of his Messa da Requiem, a collaboration on this occasion with Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Brisbane Chorale and Canticum Chamber Choir. Messa da Requiem will take place in the newly completed Glasshouse Theatre at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre, which I saw just recently as it was nearing completion. It looks spectacular (from the outside anyway).
Scene from Messa da Requiem, Dutch National Opera and Ballet
Further on in the year, Serbian-born choreographer Leo Mujić, who is currently working with the Croation National Theatre and who has created works for companies across Europe, including Dutch National Ballet and Paris Opera Ballet, will stage the Australian premiere of his production of Hamlet. Then Derek Deane from England, whose production of Strictly Gershwin was a huge hit on the two occasions (in 2016 and 2023) when it was performed by Queensland Ballet, will present a new version of Nutcracker. The works of other choreographers from overseas are also being shown during the 2026 season.
But there will be work from Australian choreographers as well, notably from Garry Stewart who directed Australian Dance Theatre in Adelaide for more than 20 years. Stewart’s latest work, Elastic Hearts, will be part of the 2026 season. Set to music by Sia, Stewart describes Elastic Hearts as ‘a creative response to the music of Sia Furler, the celebrated Australian artist, originally from Adelaide and now based in LA.’ It will be a thrill to see Stewart’s highly physical choreography onstage once more.*
For more on the 2026 program, including work for the Academy of Queensland Ballet, follow this link.
Michelle Potter, 16 October 2025
*Elastic Hearts will have a very brief showing on the Gold Coast in November, its world premiere showing, before being part of the 2026 season.
Featured image: Study for Garry Stewart’s Elastic Hearts.
Dangerous Liaisons. Queensland Ballet 4 October 2025 (evening). Talbot Theatre, Thomas Dixon Centre, Brisbane
I was not invited to review Liam Scarlett’s Dangerous Liaisons in its 2025 revival by Queensland Ballet so I felt no reason to stay when I disliked what I was watching. I left at interval. It was just the third time in about 35 years of reviewing dance performances across Australia and around the world that I have left a dance performance before it was over. Why on this occasion?
The work Dangerous Liaisons is based on the 1782 novel Les Liaisons dangereuses by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos. But on the whole this 2025 presentation reminded me of a musical comedy item with an emphasis on sexual activities. The movements and gestures indicating sexual desire were obvious and a highly dominant feature throughout (the first act at least).
Fine re the sexual emphasis. That’s part of the story! But who were all those characters? With one or two exceptions it was not at all clear, as the complex narrative unfolded, who individual dancers were representing. Understanding the action and the multitude of characters taking the stand, as it were, was made more difficult by the lack of any form of easily available written material. We all know that explanations and descriptions of works these days are available online via a QR code, but in the olden days of Queensland Ballet a sheet of paper with brief but vital information of cast and storyline was always available. Even a full printed program was also there for those who wanted one. And how frustrating it is when the person sitting next to you turns on a mobile phone to check something out in the middle of the performance.
I have to mention that there was some excellent dancing being presented, including some group scenes even if it wasn’t clear what was being celebrated or criticised. In particular Georgia Swan was outstanding as the leading female character, the wealthy widow, the Marquise de Merteuil. There was also a male dancer who did not have a major role but whose performance attracted my attention. His technique was excellent but it was his onstage presence, including the manner in which he connected with the audience, that was thrilling to watch. But who was he? I can’t recall having seen him before but I had no way of knowing immediately who he is as there were no photographs of the dancers that were easily available. I should add here that, as I was waiting for a taxi to take me back to my hotel, several people came to the desk in the foyer—it was interval—asking for a printed item of information. They were advised to go and open the QR code!
It was also, I believe, a really bad move by Queensland Ballet to use recorded music. Someone surely must realise that resident conductor Nigel Gaynor has always had a major input into performances he conducts. He works with what is happening onstage, including how the dancers are performing, in a way that no recording can do (even though the recording used in the 2025 presentation was a recording conducted by Gaynor, it’s just not the same). To make matters worse Gaynor is leaving his post as conductor at the end of 2025. Although I am not entirely clear about the reasons for the move, it apparently has something to do with the financial situation in which Queensland Ballet finds itself. (Happy to be corrected here if I am totally wrong re the reason).
I attended Dangerous Liaisons as a member of the general public. My ticket cost $127. Read my review of the 2019 production of Dangerous Liaisons, to which I was invited and which I thought was exceptional. Here is the link.
See below for a list of publications in which my dance writing and reviews have been published (in addition to the material I have posted on this website since I set it up in 2009).*
The books
But all was not lost. While in Brisbane I visited that amazing second hand book shop, Archives Fine Books in Charlotte Street in the city’s CBD. I have never really been in a second hand bookshop that has such a wealth of items on every imaginable subject. I ended up buying four dance books, three of which were previously unknown to me, and one of which was a book about an exhibition that had a major impact on our understanding of the activities of Serge Diaghilev. The books are:
Buckle, Richard. In Search of Diaghilev (London: Sidgwick and Jackson, 1955) Collins, Richard. Behind the Bolshoi Curtain (London: William Kimber, 1974) Dodd, Craig. The Performing World of the Dancer (London: Breslich & Foss, 1981) La Fosse, Robert (with Andrew Mark Wentink). Nothing to Hide (New York: Donald I. Fine Inc., 1987)
I started my reading with Behind the Bolshoi Curtain and was instantly taken by the personal manner in which Englishman Richard Collins, who spent four years working in Moscow with various sections of the Bolshoi school and company, interacted with his Russian colleagues and vice-versa. There were some issues that were a little concerning (if interesting in a particular way) but it was a ‘can’t put down’ book in the way it showed a side of ballet and dancers that we don’t usually read about in other Bolshoi-focused publications. I am looking forward to moving on to Richard Buckle’s work on his 1950s exhibition on Diaghilev’s contribution to our understanding of the Ballets Russes.
Michelle Potter, 6 October 2025
Featured image: Cover of Richard Collins’ Behind the Bolshoi Curtain.
*Here is a list of the magazines, newspapers and journals in which my reviews have appeared:
The Australian, Australian Art Review, Australian Book Review, Ballet News, Brolga, The Bulletin, Canberra CityNews, The Canberra Times, Choreography and Dance, Current News from the Library for the Performing Arts, Dance Australia, Dance Chronicle, Dance Forum, Dance Research, DanceTabs (formerly ballet.co.uk), The Dancing Times, Jahresmitteilungen von Tanzplan Deutschland, Journal of the Australian Society of Archivists, Limelight, Muse, Museum National, The National Library of Australia Magazine, NationalLibrary of Australia News, The Sydney Morning Herald and Voices.
There are other lists of books I have written as well as lists of chapters in books and theatre programs in which my writing has appeared. In addition, there are hundreds of posts on this website, which this year has, according to Google Analytics, already received 105,000 visits from Australia and across the world. I’m just not sure why Queensland Ballet no longer regards me as a critic worthy of an invitation to review.
I was a little taken aback on receiving information about the 2026 Australian Ballet season to see that Peter Wright’s Nutcracker will again feature in that season. As usual it will be part of the end of year activities and will be performed in Sydney from 28 November until 16 December.
I fully understand that Nutcracker, in its traditional format, is a much-loved Christmas show—as a young person I used to look forward to it at Christmas time—and it is a great money-maker for ballet companies across the world. But subscribers to the Sydney season saw it last in December 2024. In December 2026 it will be just a two year break between showings and in my opinion it shouldn’t become (as seems to be happening) a regular feature of the subscription season.
As an added complaint, why does it always have to be the Peter Wright version—as strong and entertaining as that production is?* The Australian Ballet has in its repertoire a great version of Nutcracker, a very different, very Australian production from Graeme Murphy. While the Murphy production is not as uniquely Christmas-oriented as the traditional versions, it does have links to Christmas. Why can’t we have it occasionally? And there are other productions of Nutcracker that could also take the place of the Peter Wright version, as much as anything else for some variety.
Perhaps the Australian Ballet might reconsider the timing of its performances of Nutcracker—not put them just two years apart for example, or even alternate the Peter Wright version with another, or others? Perhaps they might even consider removing Nutcracker from subscription packages and making it a stand-alone Christmas event?
And just as an aside, my ticket for the 2026 Nutcracker cost me $245 as part of my subscription package. That seems like a lot to see something that was shown just two years ago.
Isabelle Stoughton
I heard from a reliable source just recently that Isabelle Stoughton had died in August 2025. She was the author of a truly charming book, At the Sign of the Harlequin’s Bat, in which she wrote about her career as an assistant to London-based dance historian and book seller Cyril Beaumont. The news sent me back to the book, which I reviewed in 2012, shortly after it was first published in 2011. The reread was a worthwhile activity and gave me much pleasure.
I am very pleased to be able to inform users of this website that the contact form, which has been out of action for months and months, is now back in operation. I can vouch for its positive renewal as a number of contact comments have arrived since its reinstatement and have been successfully addressed.
Press for September 2025
– ‘Untouching dancers bring Superposition to life.’ Review of Superposition. Gabriel Sinclair and Jazmyn Carter. CBR City News, 14 September 2025. Online at this link.
MIchelle Potter, 30 September 2025
*A review of the 2019 Wright production is at this link. It indicates quite clearly that I am not intrinsically opposed to the Wright version.
I have admired, for many years now, the activities of Philippe Charluet and his company Stella Motion Pictures. His activities with dancers and dance companies, in particular the companies and work of Graeme Murphy and Meryl Tankard, have been extraordinary and of major historical significance. Of particular importance is his Heritage Collection, which documents the career of Murphy and Janet Vernon and the artists they worked with over the years.
But just yesterday he contacted me to let me know that he had made three short videos as tributes to three dancers who had just recently died: Garth Welch, Colin Peasley and Louise Deleur. I have his generous permission to use them.
Below is a link to the tribute to Garth Welch. Included are some exceptional sections showing him in the role of Aschenbach in Graeme Murphy’s After Venice and a delightful final image of Welch as a very young dancer.
The Colin Peasley tribute has some wonderful footage from Graeme Murphy’s Nutcracker for the Australian Ballet showing Peasley as one of Clara the Elder’s friends, as well as some great material from the Nureyev production of Don Quixote in which Peasley played the role of Gamache, also with the Australian Ballet.
Garth Welch, extraordinary dancer with a range of companies in Australia and elsewhere, has died at the age of 89. I clearly recall a brilliant performance he gave decades ago as Albrecht in Giselle with the Borovansky Ballet. What a thrill it gave me as a young student, and there were many more exceptional performances to come.
In 1990, after watching his career unfold over the years, and while pursuing my own varied dance activities, I had the huge pleasure of interviewing him for the National Library of Australia’s Esso Performing Arts and Oral History Archive Project. The interview is open for research purposes but is not yet available online: Welch asked that written permission be sought before it was made available for public purposes. The restriction was to last until his death so I am hoping that it might be made available online in the near future. In the meantime, the catalogue summary of the content of the interview gives an idea of the depth of the discussion. Here is a link to the information from the NLA catalogue—Garth Welch interviewed by Michelle Potter in the Esso Performing Arts collection [sound recording]—and, as a taster, below is the summary of the content as extracted from the catalogue entry.
Welch talks about his family background and childhood in Brisbane; his early experience of dance and dance education with Phyllis Danaher; early acting experience; joining the Borovansky Ballet Company in 1954; other ballet artists he worked with and performances with Borovansky. He discusses performing in London and the value of living overseas. He also speaks about working as principal dancer in the Australian Ballet Company and under Robert Helpmann’s choreography; his Harkness Fellowship; beginning as a choreographer; contact with Rudolf Nureyev; moving to Ballet Victoria and on to West Australia Ballet Company as artistic director; his role as Zac in “A Chorus Line”; and his sons who have both become dancers. He speaks about dancing again in “After Venice” with Sydney Dance Company; directing “Othello” in Manila; his current work “In Praise of Folly” and his views on the future of Australian dance.
The National Library’s dance material also contains images of Welch in various roles including some rare shots of a rehearsal in Canberra where, as seen in the two images below taken by the Australian News and Information Bureau, he partnered Margot Fonteyn in Swan Lake in October 1970.*
*The photos are dated 1971 on the websites of the National Archives of Australia and the National Library of Australia (and elsewhere on various internet sites). But it is clear from programs held in Libraries ACT that Fonteyn and Welch appeared as ‘guest stars’ in Canberra in a program that began in late October 1970. The year 1970 is also given by Edward Pask in his Ballet in Australia. The second act 1940-1980, p. 154.
Below is the information extracted from the website of Libraries ACT:
Serenade, Gayaneh, Les Patineurs & Swan Lake:Australian Ballet ’70:Program 3 Australian Ballet (Margot Fonteyn & Garth Welch guest stars) 22-Oct-1970 – 27-Oct-1970 Canberra Theatre 1.program 2.flyer 3. local cast insert
Colin Peasley, whose dance career was extraordinarily varied, has died in Melbourne at the age of 90. In 2000 he was interviewed by Bill Stephens for the oral history collection of the National Library of Australia. The interview is open for research purposes but is not yet available online: Peasley asked that written permission be sought before it was made available for public purposes. The restriction was to last until his death so I am hoping that it might be made available online in the near future. In the meantime, the catalogue summary of the content of the interview gives an idea of the depth of the discussion. Here is a link to the information from the NLA catalogue—Colin Peasley interviewed by Bill Stephens [sound recording] | Catalogue | National Library of Australia—and, as a taster, below is the summary of the content as extracted from the catalogue entry. The interview lasts for over seven hours!
Peasley speaks of his childhood and introduction to ballroom dance and live theatre, visit to the Sydney Tivoli, discovery of the Kathryn Dunham Dance Troupe and their performances, his lessons in ballroom dancing and Adagio dancing from Leslie Rutherford. He talks about his discovery of Gertrud Bodenwieser, the dance scene in Australia and obstacles facing male dancers. He discusses his course in tap and acrobatic dancing with the Rudas School of Acrobatic Dancing, jazz and classical dance with Valerie Tweedie, recollections of Estelle Anderson, his work on television, his parents reaction to his dancing career, industrial action taken by Channel 9 dancers and his decision to audition for Garnet Carroll in his theatrical productions, auditioning for George Carden for a Tivoli show in 1958 and the craft of auditioning and his lessons with Martin Rubinstein. He discusses his meeting with Peggy van Praagh, classes with the Borovansky Ballet dancers, detailed comparison of dancing teaching methods, differences between the roles of corps de ballet and principal dancer, his first days with the Australian Ballet, its structure, early history, the strain of their touring schedule and the campaign to displace Peggy van Praagh. He discusses of the dance styles of Rudolph Nureyev, Eric Bruhn, Garth Welch and Karl Welander and describes Robert Helpmann’s ballet ‘The Display’, Helpmann’s appointment as co-Artistic Director and overall significance to the Australian Ballet, Anne Woolliams period as Artistic Director to eventually be replaced by Peggy van Praagh, Marilyn Jones as Artistic Director, a major strike by the Company dancers, his view of Maina Guelgud as Artistic Director, why he was asked to resign as Regisseur General and instead took the job of Director of Education; and his great enthusiasm for teaching.
News released early in August is that Leanne Stojmenov has been appointed artistic director of the Perth-based West Australian Ballet (WAB). She will begin her appointment in January 2026, taking over the reins from David McAllister, who was appointed in 2024 as interim director following the departure of previous director, Aurelien Scannella.
Stojmenov grew up in Perth, and began her professional employment with WAB. She then had an exceptional career with the Australian Ballet for 18 years (beginning in 2001) before retiring at the end of 2018. Moving back to Perth, Stojmenov took up various dance-related roles before being appointed artistic director. See her biography on the WAB website at this link (still under the heading Rehearsal Director at time of posting).
I have great memories of watching Stojmenov on stage, even as far back as her very early performances with WAB. I will never forget an absolutely stunning performance in the pas de deux from the last act of Don Quixote. She must have been about 18 but her technique was almost unbelievable. For references on this website relating to Stojmenov’s performances follow this link.
As a taster, here is part of what I wrote about her performance in Coppélia in a 2016 Australian Ballet production:
………… I had the good fortune to see Leanne Stojmenov as Swanilda. Her characterisation was engaging and beautifully maintained from beginning to end, including at those times when she was not the centre of attention but mingling with others on the side of the stage. She smiled, she frowned, she pouted, she stamped her foot, she was playful—her every thought was so clear. Her dancing was calm and assured but still technically exciting. It was a truly charming performance.
With every good wish to Leanne Stojmenov for success in her new role!
Meryl Tankard’s Wild Swans
Last year I received a purchase request for 30 copies of my book Meryl Tankard. An original voice, first published in 2012.. When I received the request I had to have a reprint made as I had no copies left from the original run. It was a very small reprint with one or two minor typographical errors corrected—nothing major. But the reprint activities did send me back to a little further research.
I didn’t review the show when it was first performed in 2003 in Sydney as I had various other opportunities to write about the work, including one or two preview articles and an article for the official Australian Ballet program. Just one of those articles, the Australian Ballet program note, appears on this website.
The various reviews were quite diverse. In an article that was commissioned from me by the editor of Australian Art Review,* and published in the issue dated November 2003-February 2004, I wrote that the public reaction ‘ranged from spluttering outrage to to wild enthusiasm’. I was closer to the ‘wild enthusiasm’ end of the range and wrote in that same Australian Art Review article that it was ‘a controversial work from a controversial artist’. I wrote in particular that I especially enjoyed the exceptional collaborative nature of the work.
But just recently, as part of continuing research into the topic, I came across a YouTube item that was loaded from Stella Motion Pictures in January 2025, some twenty years after the creation of Wild Swans. It was a reminder of the work that went into the production and it was quite a thrill to see some of the major dancers who performed in it, including Felicia Palanca, Annabel Reid and Tim Harbour. There are also hints within it as to why the work has never been restaged.
It appears that the contact form on this website is no longer working and in fact has probably not been working for some time. An attempt to fix the issue is currently underway and news that the form is again up and running will be provided as soon as available.
Press for August 2025
– ‘Not an easy production to understand or enjoy.’ Review of Marrow. Australian Dance Theatre. CBR City News, 1 August 2025. Online at this link.
– ‘Unexpected collaboration in the right steps.’ Review of Mandolina Ballerina. Canberra Mandolin Orchestra and Tessa Karle, 17 August 2025. Online at this link.
Michelle Potter, 31 August 2025
* Australian Art Review was a Sydney-based journal published between 2003 and 2013.
A recent article, written by Madison McGuinness and published on 9 July 2025 in The Greek Herald, had the following two introductory paragraphs:
The Sydney Dance Company captivated a crowd of 5,000 at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus last week, performing Impermanence as part of the Athens Epidaurus Festival 2025.
Set against the historic backdrop beneath the Acropolis, the emotionally charged performance explored the fleeting nature of existence through movement and music.
The featured image on this month’s dance diary (see above) shows SDC dancers taking a ‘curtain’ call in front of that ancient building. It is the image that leads into the Herald article, an image that is credited to Australia’s ambassador to Greece, Alison Duncan, who according to the article ‘hailed the performance as a personal milestone’.
While it was excellent news to hear of the success of Sydney Dance Company, Duncan’s image from Greece reminded me of those wonderful images dating back to the 1960s showing the Australian Ballet dancing at the Baalbek International Festival in Lebanon in 1965 when, for a few nights, they performed in the precinct of the ruined Temple of Bacchus.
I remember seeing images of the dancers in Baalbek but have not been able to find any for this post. The SDC image now takes the place of those 1965 shots, for me at least.
My review of Impermanence (onstage, Sydney 2021) is at this link.
Mandolina Ballerina (Tessa Karle)
Canberra’s Mandolin Orchestra has an interesting show coming up with the evocative title of ‘Mandolina Ballerina’. It features a Canberra-trained dancer, Tessa Karle, who currently performs with Royal New Zealand Ballet. The image below shows Karle in a recent production by RNZB, The Way Alone choreographed by one of Australia’s most admired choreographers, Stephen Baynes.
The image below is an advertising poster for ‘Mandolina Ballerina’, for which Karle has created original choreography, and in which she will perform. The music includes sections from Swan Lake and Nutcracker.
I am hoping to see the show, which will have just two performances on 16 August at the premises of Folk Dance Canberra in the suburb of Hackett. Potentially a review will follow.
The Panov tour … a little more
After reporting in last month’s dance diary on the death of former Russian dancer Valery Panov, I went in search of a little more detail on the 1976 tour to Australia and New Zealand by Ballet Victoria in which Valery Panov and his then wife, Galina Panov, were guest artists. I was able to gain access, via the National Library of Australia, to the program for the Canberra season of the tour, which consisted of three shows at the Canberra Theatre, 21–22 June 1976.
The Canberra program began with Petrouchka, which was the major work presented across venues in Australia and New Zealand.
Petrouchka was followed by Concerto Grosso, a work choreographed by Charles Czarny to music by Handel. It had designs by Joop Stokvis and was originally choreographed for Nederlands Dans Theater in 1971 and given its Australian premiere by that company on tour in 1972. Re-choreographed especially for Ballet Victoria by Czarny it was in seven sections: Warm-up, Boxing, Tightrope, Obliquatory [sic], Skating, Football, and Karate. The Canberra program also included Jonathan Taylor’s Stars End, which was created especially for Ballet Victoria to music by David Bedford. Program notes discuss the work briefly, noting that ‘[It] depicts people meeting people … parting … ultimately everyone is alone.’
The audience also saw two pas de deux choreographed by Panov and danced by him and his wife. One was Adagio célèbre to music by Tomaso Albinoni for which program notes state:
This is a prayer to the dream inside Man. Unfortunately, life cannot keep dreams forever and tension takes the beauty of it away. Man prays to keep this dream forever but remains only with the prayer of his dreams.
The other pas de deux seen in Canberra was Harlequinade to music by Riccardo Drigo with choreography by Valery Panov ‘after Fokine’ and with input from Alexander Gorsky who choreographed Galina Panov’s variation. Program notes read that it concerns, ‘The classic involvement of the two prime characters of the commedia dell’arte, Harlequin and Columbine [in which] Harlequin pays court to the demure soubrette, Columbine.’
Programs for other cities included Les Sylphides and various other pas de deux.
News from James Batchelor
James Batchelor has received funding from artsACT to present his new work Resonance in Canberra. Resonance, which is a response to material Batchelor has been investigating in relation to Tanja Liedtke, will open in Sydney in September before travelling to Melbourne and then to Canberra where it will play on 10-11 October.
In addition, Batchelor has been successful in an application to undertake a Master of Philosophy degree at the Australian National University (ANU). His research proposal is entitled ‘Echoes of the Expressive Dance’ and will pursue further his interest in the growth of the expressive dance technique of Gertrud Bodenwieser. The proposal earned him a full scholarship at the ANU and he will begin work on it shortly.
Michelle Potter, 31 July 2025
Featured image: Dancers of Sydney Dance Company taking a curtain call following a performance in Greece, July 2025. Photo: Alison Duncan
Not so long ago I was looking at the Ausdance National website when I discovered a section called ‘Spoken Memory. Oral History Interviews at the National Library of Australia’. The title ‘Spoken Memory’ is an excellent one and I have taken the liberty of using it for this post, with thanks to Ausdance.
There were several lists on the Ausdance site. They had been assembled under the names (including mine) of various interviewers, and the lists were made up of those interviews that are available online. Not all interviews make it to the online collection—it depends mostly on what the interviewees have agreed to when completing the Rights Agreement at the end of their interview.
The Ausdance lists, which included links to the online version of each interview, stopped (in relation to me) at 2012 and, again in my case, didn’t include all the interviews I had done with people associated with dance in some way. Photographer Max Dupain, for example, who was interviewed specifically for his thoughts on the Ballet Russes dancers he photographed in the 1930s and 1940s, was not included; and musician Eric Clapham, whose background included working as a pianist and adviser for various ballet companies, was not mentioned either; and there are more examples. But the Ausdance lists were a great way of bringing online dance interviews to the attention of people who may not use the National Library catalogue to any great extent.
With the above in mind, I have posted below a list of the interviews I have done with people associated with dance in some way, and which are available online. This list is about one third of the interviews I have recorded to date. My complete list of interviews, which includes people working in areas of the arts other than dance, is included as a link at the bottom of this post.
To hear the audio you need simply to accept the end user licence agreement, which appears when the link is opened. Happy listening!
Oral history list as at June 2025: The link above includes the interviews that are not available online, information about the special projects for which some oral histories were recorded, and oral histories I have recorded for institutions other than the National Library of Australia.
It was a real pleasure to see that Elizabeth Cameron Dalman had been awarded an AM (Member of the Order of Australia) in the King’s Birthday Honours announced early in June. Dalman’s dance career has been quite astonishing and has included the establishment of Australian Dance Theatre in 1965, a company that she directed for 10 years and that continues to the present day; the creation of a vast number of contemporary dance works; working and performing with dance artists across the world including in Australia; and the establishment of the Mirramu Creative Arts Centre at Bungendore close to Canberra, along with the Mirramu Dance Company (co-founded with Vivienne Rogis).
Dalman has been the recipient of numerous awards including an OAM (Medal of the Order of Australia) in 1995; a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Australian Dance Awards in 1997; a creative Arts Fellowship from ArtsACT in 2004; induction into the Australian Dance Awards Hall of Fame in 2015; and the award of Canberra CityNews Artist of the Year also in 2015.
Academically Dalman is the recipient of a Masters of Creative Arts degree from the University of Wollongong earned in 1994 and a Doctorate in Dance from the University of Western Sydney achieved in 2012.
The above is a very brief account of an amazing career. She has just recently published a book, Nature Moves, which gives more information. And for more about Dalman on this site see this tag.
Anandavalli
I had the pleasure in June of recording an oral history interview for the National Library of Australia with renowned Sydney-based dancer, teacher and choreographer, Anadavalli (pictured on the left). Once processed for inclusion in the NLA’s collection, the interview will be readily available to those interested in what has been, and continues to be an exceptional theatrical career.
Valery Panov (1938-2025)
Valery Panov, a dancer whose professional career started with the Kirov Ballet but who left Russia in 1974, has died in Ashdod, Israel, at the age of 87. Obituaries are available online through a number of sources.
Panov’s career has been written about extensively in books and a variety of other sources but rarely, if ever, do authors mention that he and Galina Panov danced a major season of ten weeks in Australia and New Zealand with Ballet Victoria, the company established by Laurel Martyn.
Unsurprisingly, Edward Pask, in his book Ballet in Australia. The Second Act 1940-1980 does not ignore the visit by the Panovs and gives an account of the productions in which they danced and some reviews of their dancing. While Petrouchka was always the major item on the program, both in Australia and New Zealand, other works presented included a work by Panov himself, Adagio celebre, Jonathan Taylor’s Star’s End, Les Sylphides and Harlequinade.
Over May, June and July of 1976, the Panovs and Ballet Victoria performed in Australia in Sydney, Brisbane, Newcastle, Canberra, Adelaide and Melbourne before moving on to New Zealand where they were seen in Wellington, Auckland, Dunedin and Christchurch. Ballet Victoria did not, it seems, last as a company for much longer after July. In fact the company was dissolved in October 1976. Pask suggests that it was due to a major financial loss as a result of the Panov tour. The Panov season clearly deserves a thorough re-examination.
DanceShowcase, Adelaide College of the Arts
it was a thrill to see first year tertiary dance students at the Adelaide College of the Arts performing their first work-in-progress event. The showcase was a thirty-minute-long production, full of choreographic surprises and very well performed by all. ‘It was great to see professional contemporary dance,’ said a young person sitting next to me. The students are being taught by Sarah-Jayne Howard (back row in a red top in the image below), who joined the dancers for the attached group photo taken at the end of the showcase.
