Ausdance has announced the return of two fellowships, the Peggy van Praagh Choreographic Fellowship and the Keith Bain Choreographic Travel Fellowship. Ausdance initiated the fellowships some years ago but closure was necessary during the COVID outbreak. They have just now been reinstated and, as before, are worth $10,000 each.
(Left) Peggy van Praagh teaching at the Australian Ballet, 1965. Photo: © Keith Byron, Australian News and Information Bureau; (Right) Keith Bain as the Pied Piper in a Bodenwieser Studio recital, 1954. Photo: © Eric Cuckson
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Peggy van Praagh (1910-1990) and Keith Bain (1926-2012) were major figures in many aspects of dance in Australia and their input spanned several decades. It was especially strong in the mid-20th century but continued until their respective deaths.
Van Praagh’s major contribution to dance in Australia was as founding artistic director of the Australian Ballet, a position she held from 1962 to 1974 and again in 1978. She shared the position of artistic director with Robert Helpmann from 1965 until 1974. But she was prominent in many other ways including as, briefly, artistic director of the Borovansky Ballet and as a teacher with various organisations.
Keith Bain had a distinguished career in a variety of dance areas including performance, choreography and teaching. He danced with the Bodenwieser Ballet for example, and choreographed for Ballet Australia and taught and lectured at NIDA. In his book, The Principles of Movement (2013), his approach to movement is explained in detail
The Peggy van Praagh Choreographic Fellowship
A Choreographic Fellowship of $10,000 awarded to a mid-career choreographer.
After van Praagh’s death in 1990, the Trustees of her Estate made a donation to Ausdance National for the establishment of the Peggy van Praagh Fellowship, an initiative to support choreographers.
See the details of the award at this link.
The Keith Bain Choreographic Travel Fellowship
The Keith Bain Choreographic Travel Fellowship supports travel and experiences by emerging choreographers across any dance genre.
See details of the award at this link.
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Guidelines and application details at these links:
Peggy van Praagh Fellwship
Keith Bain Fellowship
Applications close at 5 pm on 31 July. Don’t miss out!
Michelle Potter, 15 July 2026