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.
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.
The May edition of Qantas Magazine carried a two page spread on visual artist Darrell Sibosado, who is the designer for the forthcoming Bangarra production, Illume. The article, written by Kate Hennessy, had the title ‘This First Nations visual artist is shining new light on ancient ceremonial carvings’. From reading the article, I discovered that Darrell Sibosado comes from the Dampier Peninsula in Western Australia and that his family is one of carvers, who, across time, have created designs on pearl shells to be used in particular ceremonies. In the article Sibosado says that, historically, the work of his family is ‘about capturing the iridescence, shine and many layers of the pearl’. It will be interesting to see how this background translates into his designs for Illume, in which Bangarra suggests we will ‘step out of the shadows and into the phenomena of light—the central life force of our planet’.
illumine, with choreography from Frances Rings, opens in Sydney on 4 June 2025 before travelling elsewhere. See the Bangarra website for further details of the creators and of the performance schedule.
Bonsai Ballerina
Jennifer Price was a dancer in Chicago but, after retiring, became transfixed by the art of Bonsai and took up the study of the creative procedure behind that art form. She was recently in Canberra for the 2025 AABC National Bonsai Convention, which celebrated (amongst other things) the 50th anniversary of the Canberra Bonsai Society. The convention closed with an exhibition (free to the public) and the images below are two of the items that were on display in that exhibition.
I know very little about Price’s dance background, and probably less about the art of Bonsai, but from the often stunning examples on show in the exhibition I was not surprised that a former dancer was moved to look deeper into the art form. I was attracted of course by the name that the media gave to Price—’Bonsai Ballerina’!
Stanton Welch on a new Raymonda
I have been thinking recently about Queensland Ballet’s repertoire of ‘reimagined’ narratives for well known ballets—Greg Horsman’s La Bayadère and Coppéliafor example. So I was interested to discover that Stanton Welch, Australian artistic director of Houston Ballet since 2003, has just created a new version of Raymonda. It opened on 29 May and the YouTube link below features Welch talking about creating this work.
Chandrabhanu turns 75
Back in 1998 I recorded an oral history interview for the National Library of Australia with dancer Dr Chandrabhanu, whose particular interests were, and still are in Bharata Natyam, Odissi and contemporary dance. That interview is available for research purposes but any public use of it requires written permission. A summary of the contents of the interview can, however, be seen at this link.
Well Dr Chandrabhanu is turning 75 this year and his latest production, Bharata Natyam Reprise, will celebrate that personal milestone with a revival in Melbourne in early June of classical and contemporary compositions of the Bharatam Dance Company. See this link for further details.
Press for May 2025
– ‘Multi-media novelty item that was sometimes over the top.’ Review of A Book of Hours, Rubiks Collective. CBR City News, 4 May 2025. Online at this link.
14 May 2025. Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House
Having just reread Different Drummer, Jann Parry’s 2009 biography of Kenneth MacMillan, choreographer of the ballet Manon, I was curious to see the Australian Ballet’s production of that work. Would the background that Parry provides in her biography open up the work for me. Well I wasn’t disappointed.
As a choreographer MacMillan is definitely a ‘different drummer’ and it was a particular treat to watch his pas de deux, the format with which, according to Parry, he loved to start work on each new initiative. Although I thought some of the pas de deux in Manon might be considered a little long (the final one in which Manon died in the arms of Lescaut for example), all were spectacular in terms of the connections, physical and emotional, that the choreography set up between whichever two characters were involved. Not only that I was fascinated to watch the tiny details MacMillan put into his choreography. The feet and the hands often took on surprising details, and the pirouettes and tours en l’air from the male dancers often ended in unusual ways that clearly required exceptional technical input. Then there was MacMillan’s handling of groups of dancers, including some quite beautiful moments of canon-style choreography. As a whole, the choreography of Manon is truly masterful.
But who staged the production I wondered? For the choreography to look as remarkable as it did, the work also needed to be staged well and with more than a passing understanding of what constitutes excellence in staging a narrative ballet. It turned out that this production was staged by Laura Morera and Gregory Mislin. Mislin is the Royal Ballet’s choreologist. Morera is a former Royal Ballet dancer whose work I have admired on many an occasion but who is now artistic supervisor for both the MacMillan and the Scarlett Estates. Morera was recently principal coach for Queensland Ballet’s production of MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet, which was staged by Gary Harris. Both Harris and Morera did a magnificent job on that occasion. So I was not a bit surprised when I discovered Morera had staged the Australian Ballet’s Manon. The Australian Ballet’s Manon, like the Queensland Ballet Romeo and Juliet, was completely engaging as a story from beginning to end, as well of course as being fabulously danced by the impressive artists of the Australian Ballet.
At the mid-season matinee I attended I saw Jill Ogai as Manon and Marcus Morelli as Des Grieux, Manon’s (eventual and final) lover. Both danced well, perhaps especially Morelli who attacked the choreography with strength and commitment. But for me the standout dancers were Cameron Holmes as Lescaut (Manon’s brother) and Katherine Sonnekus as Lescaut’s mistress. They both have secure techniques, which allows plenty of freedom to develop characterisation. The acting from both of them was outstanding making it easy for the audience to engage with them. The absolute highlight was their pas de deux in Act II at the party given by Madame X (Gillian Revie) at which Lescaut had had one too many glasses (or bottles) of alcohol. His drunken stumbles, at which the audience fell about laughing, simply made his attack on MacMillan’s demands look even more brilliant. Sonnekus managed to handle beautifully the many incredible lifts that, cleverly, looked like the work of a drunken man but which were definitely MacMillan-esquely balletic.
The music by Jules Massenet was nicely played by Opera Australia Orchestra while Peter Farmer’s sets and costumes evoked well the period and the locations. With all aspects of the production working together so well, the story (which I have not gone into in detail here*) was clear and the two to three hours of dancing was an absolute delight.
I guess my one quibble is that this production really needs a bigger stage than that of the Joan Sutherland Theatre (a common issue of course). There were times, especially in Act I, when there was just too much happening on stage. The activities were being brilliantly handled but there were times when those activities were too close to the main action and were thus distracting from that action to too great an extent.
Despite the quibble, this production of Manon showed MacMillan’s brilliance. Huge compliments must go to Laura Morera and Gregory Mislin for their input in making that brilliance shine through, not forgetting that the dancing was splendid across the board from the dancers of the Australian Ballet.
April is the middle month of Autumn in the southern hemisphere. Spectacular colours abound in nature as dance for 2025 continues, despite a disheartening approach to funding for the art form.
The difficult financial situation that Queensland Ballet is facing, for example, is more than disheartening, although the exact changes that are being made to the company are yet to be fully revealed. To date, Brett Clark, Chair of QB Board, is reported as saying (amongst other remarks on the situation): Over the years, we have worked hard to leverage our base grants from State and Federal Governments and have unapologetically advocated loudly for parity of Federal funding to bring us in line with our peers in New South Wales and Victoria. To date we have been unsuccessful.
In 2025, to ensure our ongoing sustainability, we have made the difficult decision to re-vision our organisation across our Artistic and Business teams which will see us farewell some of our artists and arts workers.
It is also thoroughly frustrating that in the lead-up to the federal election in Australia on 3 May no political party appears to have made any mention of the arts.
New books
Elizabeth Dalman’s book, Nature moves, was launched in Canberra on 27 April 2025 with a short opening performance from Vivienne Rogis and Peng Hsaio-yin. The performance was followed by a launch speech from Cathy Adamek, executive director of Ausdance ACT.
The performance was danced on a lawn that fronts a particular shopping area in Canberra, and under a large and very old tree—appropriate of course given that Dalman’s book examines dance and nature. When the dance came to an end, the audience simply crossed the road for the launch function, which was held in, and sponsored by, the local bookshop, The Book Cow.
Under the heading ‘Press for April 2025’ (see below) is my short article, which was published in CityNews on 28 April 2025, and which expands a little on how the launch unfolded.
Nature Moves is available from The Book Cow, via this link.
I also discovered, quite accidentally, news about the latest publication by Jill Rivers, whose generosity to reviewers I remember clearly from a period, some years ago now, when she was media director for the Australian Ballet. Her current publication, The Genius of Nijinsky, is an interesting read as Rivers had spent much time speaking to the present-day family of Vaslav Nijinsky. Her presence with, and thoughts about, those family members in a range of situations, sometimes quite personal, are embedded within the story.
The latest playlist from Jacob’s Pillow has a short clip of David Hallberg, currently artistic director of the Australian Ballet, performing Nacho Duato’s Kaburias. Watch at this link.
A still showing David Hallberg in a moment from Kaburias, Jacob’s Pillow 2012
Just a year or two prior to the performance at Jacob’s Pillow, I had the pleasure of seeing Hallberg perform solo in New York in the series Kings of the Dance. Read my review here.
International Dance Day 2025
International Dance Day, 29 April, is always celebrated with a message from a major figure in the dance world. This year, 2025, the message came from Mikhail Baryshnikov whose comment read:
It’s often said that dance can express the unspeakable. Joy, grief, and despair become visible; embodied expressions of our shared fragility. In this, dance can awaken empathy, inspire kindness, and spark a desire to heal rather than harm.
Especially now—as hundreds of thousands endure war, navigate political upheaval, and rise in protest against injustice—honest reflection is vital. It’s a heavy burden to place on the body, on dance, on art. Yet art is still the best way to give form to the unspoken, and we can begin by asking ourselves: Where is my truth? How do I honor myself and my community? Whom do I answer to?
Latvian-born, Baryshnikov defected from the USSR in 1974. He has performed in Australia on various occasions, including in 1975 when he appeared with Ballet Victoria.
