Dance diary. November 2025

Liz Lea: the latest

Liz Lea , ever engaged in new projects, has been commissioned by the Sydney-based AMPA (Academy of Music and Performing Arts) to create a new work for the dance students of the Academy for their upcoming end of year show, Euphoria. Lea’s work is called Promenade and will premiere on 5 December 2025.

Dancers from AMPA rehearsing for *Promenade*. Still from a rehearsal video

Watch below for an insight into the work.

Creative Australia Awards

Two dance artists, choreographer and director Kate Champion and dancer-choreographer Rosalind Crisp, have been honoured at the 2025 Creative Australia Awards held in Brisbane in November. Kate Champion received the Theatre Award and Rosalind Crisp the Dance Award.

Kate Champion, currently artistic director of Black Swan State Theatre Company in Perth, Western Australia, was honoured for ‘three decades contributing to Australian Performance’. Those decades include the founding of the much admired contemporary dance-theatre company Force Majeure in 2002, which she directed until 2015. Her credits extend across a variety of theatrical genres in addition to dance including opera, film, theatre and circus.

Rosalind Crisp was the recipient of the Dance Award. She founded Omeo Dance Studio in Sydney in 1996 and was invited to Paris in 2002, where she became Associate Artist at Atelier de Paris (2004–2014). She was awarded a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture in 2015, and her work has toured nationally and internationally. She is currently commissioned by the Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company.

Brief videos focusing on the awards are available online: Kate Champion at this link, Rosalind Crisp here.

Honouring Ana Gallardo Lobaina

My colleagues in Wellington, New Zealand, have let me know that on 19 November, His Excellency Luis Ernesto Morejón Rodríguez, Ambassador of Cuba to New Zealand, Cook Islands and Niue, was welcomed into the Royal New Zealand Ballet studios to honour principal artist Ana Gallardo Lobaina. His Excellency presented Ana, born and trained in Cuba, with an artwork by Cuban visual artist Yosvany Martínez Pérez. It is, I understand, a tradition in Cuba to honour artists who have made a significant input into the company with which they work. In presenting the award the Ambassador said:

Today, we are delighted to see a dancer born and trained in Cuba take her place among the principal figures of the Royal New Zealand Ballet, bringing her talent, sensitivity, and energy to this company. The recognition we are presenting to Ana today is a testament to her tireless work, unwavering perseverance, and artistic excellence.

I have greatly admired the dancing of Ana Gallardo Lobaina, in particular in Loughlan Prior’s production of The Firebird (2021), and the award is well deserved. For posts that feature the work of Ana Gallardo Lobaina on this website see this tag.

The Firebird, Royal New Zealand Ballet, 2021. Photo: © Stephen A’Court — Ana Gallardo Lobaina in the title role of Loughlan Prior’s *The Firebird*. Royal New Zealand Ballet, 2021. Photo: © Stephen A’Court

… and then there’s Elizabeth Dalman

A similar honour will shortly be bestowed on Dr Elizabeth Dalman, AM. Elizabeth will be awarded the insignia of Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters by the Ambassador of France to Australia, His Excellency M. Pierre-André Imbert on 2 December at the Embassy of France in Canberra.

The award was established in 1957 to recognise eminent artists who have contributed significantly to furthering the arts in France and throughout the world. More after 2 December.

MIchelle Potter, 30 November 2025

Featured image: Liz Lea speaking to the public in 2021 Source: CBR CityNews, 01 February 2021 Photo: © Helen Musa

Dance diary. October 2025

News from LIz Lea

Liz Lea has just announced news of an upcoming production, Diamond, on which she is currently working. Diamond is the next in a trilogy of works she is developing and follows on from the first work in that trilogy—RED. RED was an exceptional production first seen in 2018 (read the review at this link). After its Australian presentation, it toured in various countries for five years.

Diamond will premiere on 6 August 2026 at the Q Theatre in Queanbeyan as part of ‘Q The Locals’, an initiative with a focus on local productions. There are still nine or so months to go but worth the wait I’m sure.

Larry Ruffell (1941-2025)

Very belatedly I discovered that dancer, writer and arts administrator, Larry Ruffell, had died early in 2025. The news was relayed to me by a colleague who unexpectedly came into contact with Larry’s wife, Priscilla, at a show they were both attending in Canberra. New Zealand born, Larry had a career as a dancer in the United Kingdom before moving to Australia where he pursued a career as a writer and arts administrator. He had a noteworthy career in Canberra and wrote and reviewed extensively for The Canberra Times back in the days, several years ago now, when that newspaper included material about dance and most other arts activities. Larry also had a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Australian National University with majors in philosophy and psychology.

My connections with Larry include publishing an article he wrote for Brolga, the now defunct journal I founded in 1994 and edited until 2006. It appeared in Brolga 17, December 2002, and was titled ‘Perceiving dance: bowing to the ineffable’. The article examined the impact of differing perceptions relating to music and to dance. He was also administrator of the Canberra Opera Society (also now defunct) when I choreographed sections of that society’s production of Gluck’s Orpheus and Eurydice in 1977.

A brief biography, dating back around two decades from the website of Ausdance National, is at this link. A longer article, an obituary, was published in New Zealand by The Post and can be read at this link. The New Zealand obituary contains some photos of Larry, including one referencing the days of his British dance career. It is noteworthy too that in the obituary he is referred to as Laurie Ruffell. He was never called Laurie in Australia, although that name seems to be common elsewhere.

Ausdance ACT’s Youth Dance Festival 2025

Promotional image for *Life on Mars*, Ausdance ACT Youth Dance Festival, 2025

Unforrunately I missed (again) the Youth Dance Festival this year, a program called Life on Mars, although I continue to admire the process that lies behind the Fesitval. As Ausdance ACT notes: ‘The Youth Dance Festival creative process involves professional dance mentors visiting participating schools to provide support and guidance to students in the development of their own work.’ The range of schools involved from across the region is remarkable. Next year I hope I will manage to attend.

Press for October 2025

– ‘Batchelor focuses on the legacy of lost dancer.’ Review of Resonance. James Batchelor + Collaborators. CBR City News, 11 October 2025. Online at this link.

– ‘Celebrating Dalman’s decades of dance creation.’ Review of ECDysis. Mirramu Dance Company and guests from Taiwan. CBR City News, 26 October 2025. Online at this link.

Michelle Potter, 31 October 2025

Featured image: Liz Lea in a promotional image for Diamond. Photo: © O&J Wikner, 2025.

Dance diary. September 2025

Nutcracker … again

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.

My review is at this link.

Contact form

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.

Featured image: Yuumi Yamada as Clara in The Nutcracker. The Australian Ballet, 2019. Photo: © Daniel Boud

Leanne Stojmenov and Daniel Gaudiello in 'Cinderella'. The Australian Ballet, 2013. Photo: Jeff Busby

Dance diary. August 2025

Leanne Stojmenov

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.

Follow this link to see the video.

Felicia Palanca as Eliza in Meryl Tankard's 'Wild Swans'. The Australian Ballet, 2003. Photo © Regis Lansac — Felicia Palanca as Eliza in *Wild Swans*. The Australian Ballet, 2003. Photo: © Régis Lansac. National Library of Australia

New contact form

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.

Featured image: Leanne Stojmenov and Daniel Gaudiello in Cinderella. The Australian Ballet, 2013. Photo: © Jeff Busby

Leanne Stojmenov and Daniel Gaudiello in 'Cinderella'. Photo Jeff Busby

Dance diary. July 2025

Sydney Dance Company in Athens

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.

Kihiro Kusukami and Tessa Karle in Stephen Baynes’ *The Way Alone*. Royal New Zealand Ballet. Photo: © Stephen A’Court, courtesy Royal New Zealand Ballet

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.

Valery Panov as Petrouchka. Ballet Victoria, 1976. Papers of Laurel Martyn, MS 9711, Series 1, Item 222, National Library of Australia. Photo: © Robert McFarlane

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

Elizabeth Dalman in 'Symbiosis'. Australian Dance Party 2021. Photo Michelle Potter

Dance diary. June 2025

Elizabeth Dalman, AM

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.

(left) Valery Panov as Petrouchka. Ballet Victoria, 1976. National Library of Australia, Papers of Laurel Martyn, MS 9711, Series 1, Item 222. Photo: © National Library of Australia/Robert McFarlane; (right) Poster for the New Zealand tour by Ballet Victoria, 1976. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections Eph-Post02513. Reproduced with permission.

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.

Dance Showcase, 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.

Sarah-Jayne Howard with first year dancers from Adelaide College of the Arts tertiary dance program, 2025. Photo: © Tim Potter

Press for June 2025

– ‘Carmen – so different, so beautiful and so well danced.’ Review of Carmen. The Australian Ballet. CBR City News, 21 June 2025. Online at this link.

Michelle Potter, 30 June 2025

Featured image: Elizabeth Dalman in Symbiosis, Australian National Botanic Gardens, Canberra. Australian Dance Party, 2021. Photo © Michelle Potter. (To see a review of Dalman’s performance in Symbiosis activate this link)

Dance diary. May 2025

Illume. Bangarra Dance Theatre

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.

Two examples of Bonsai from the Canberra Bonsai Exhibition, 2025. Photos: © Michelle Potter

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 Coppélia for 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.

Chandrabhanu, ca. 1998. Photo: © Jim Hooper/National Library of Australia

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.

Michelle Potter, 31 May 2025

Featured image: Media image for Illume, Bangarra Dance Theatre, 2025. Photo: © Daniel Boud

Dance diary. April 2025

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.

Vivienne Rogis (standing) and Peng Hsaio-yin dancing at the launch of *Nature Moves*, Canberra 2025. Photo: © Michelle Potter

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 Genius of Nijinsky can be bought via a link to the site Art-full Living.

David Hallberg at Jacob’s Pillow, 2012

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.

Mikhail Baryshnikov as Albrecht. *Giselle*, Act Ii. Ballet Victoria, 1975. Photo: © Walter Stringer/National Library of Australia

Press for April 2025

Dalman’s book looks at the creation of dance in nature

Michelle Potter, 30 April 2025

Dance diary. March 2025

Norton Owen. Director of Preservation, Jacob’s Pillow

Norton Owen is Director of Preservation at Jacob’s Pillow, an exceptional centre for dance that includes a school and a performance space in Becket, Massachusetts, in the beautiful mountainous region of the Berkshires. Norton has been awarded the 2025 Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award. It is in celebration of his 50th year of being on the staff of Jacob’s Pillow and carries a cash award of $25,000, to be used however the awardee wishes. It also includes a custom-designed glass sculpture by Berkshire-based artist Tom Patti. The award is financed by an ongoing annual gift from an anonymous donor.

I have great memories of Norton and his work, including the ‘Pillow Talk’ I did with Gideon Obarzanek at Jacob’s Pillow way back in 2007. The invitation for me to participate came from Norton and since then I have enjoyed following the work he does. In particular I love receiving the monthly playlist of excerpts from footage preserved at Jacob’s Pillow, which reflects the works that have been presented over the years at the Pillow.

From the March 2025 playlist, whose title is ‘Ailey Connections’, I especially enjoyed Pas de Duke, created originally for Judith Jamison and Mikhail Baryshnikov by Alvin Ailey in 1976 to ‘Old Man Blues’ by Duke Ellington. The footage of Pas de Duke on the March 2025 playlist is from a 2024 presentation, performed on that occasion by two alumni of Jacob’s Pillow school—Jacquelin Harris and Patrick Coker. Watch the 2024 Pas de Duke here.

But the playlist is but one aspect of a wider online platform for which Norton is responsible—Jacob’s Pillow Dance Interactive. It can by accessed at this link.

Norton’s award is so well-deserved. He is an exceptional curator of dance matters.

Recent reading

Again from my collection of dance books that either I didn’t get around to reading when I first acquired them, or that have generated new interest for one reason or another, I have just finished reading Carolyn Brown’s autobiography, Chance and Circumstance. Twenty Years with Cage and Cunningham, and am in the middle of Jann Parry’s biography of Kenneth MacMillan, Different Drummer. The Life of Kenneth MacMillan.

Chance and Circumstance is surprising in its honest account of Brown’s attitude to her career and contains many, many insights into the personalities with whom she worked. Different Drummer is no hagiography! Parry gives a startling account of MacMillan’s mental issues, his alcoholism, and his bouts of anxiety, all of which explain to a certain extent the nature of the subjects he chose for his works. Both are well worth reading.

Some statistics for ‘on dancing’

I am always interested to read, via Google Analytics, which posts on this website are the most popular and which cities login to the site most frequently. In the last week of March, Sydney, London, Brisbane, Melbourne, and Wellington were the top five cities (in numerical order). Everything changes of course, even from day to day, and popularity reflects the timing of posts in most cases. In the last week in March, the top five posts in order were ‘RNZB with Scottish Ballet’; ‘Romeo and Juliet. Queensland Ballet’; ‘Essor. Yolanda Lowatta’; and ‘Choros (I dance). Coralie Hinkley’.

I am sometimes curious when an older post pops up and, just recently, my obituary for philanthropist, Anne Bass, published in April 2020, kept appearing on the top ten list. I did a bit of research and discovered that her apartment on 5th Ave, New York, had been sold in January 2025. Clearly there had been interest in what had appeared online about her. And, as a matter of particular interest, her beautiful statue by Degas, ‘Little dancer aged fourteen’, sold separately two years earlier for a record price of $41.6 million.

I continue to think of her often. My 2020 obituary is at this link,

Michelle Potter, 31 March 2025

Dance diary. February 2025

New initiative from Sydney Dance Company

Ever on the move in the development of dance, Sydney Dance Company just recently announced a new initiative—a teacher training program ‘dedicated to the art and practice of dance education’. Led by Linda Gamblin, Head of Training at Sydney Dance Company, the course will begin in July 2025.

This is an exciting initiative from Sydney Dance Company. Teaching is an art in my opinion and dance teachers need specialised teacher training in addition to having danced themselves. Follow this link for a detailed look at what the course will encompass.

Miracle in the Gorbals

In February I was drawn yet again to the Lifeline Book Fair, which has now become a huge Canberra event, and which these days is held more than once a year. My most interesting purchase was a somewhat battered copy of a book by Arnold Haskell that gave a detailed analysis of Robert Helpmann’s early work Miracle in the Gorbals. I saw this work in London in 2014 when it was produced for Birmingham Royal Ballet by Gillian Lynne, who performed in the original 1944 cast as one of the inhabitants of the Gorbals. My review of the Birmingham production is at this link.

The book was published in Edinburgh in 1946, just two years after the premiere of the ballet. It was a more than interesting read, especially the section entitled ‘5. Interpretation’, which I wish I had read prior to seeing the work when I did. But it is hard to know what actually was Haskell’s opinion of the work. Haskell spoke of Helpmann as being ‘a man of the theatre’, which he believed (I think?) was the reason Miracle in the Gorbals was successful. But in ‘Epilogue: A Warning’ Haskell wrote:

Ballet must return to the way of Fokine, who rescued it from decay. His works are not merely beautiful in themselves, they are object lessons in choreography and no one so far has proved himself to have so thorough an understanding of the medium.

Ballet does not need ideas to survive, it needs beauty of line and movement. If ideas can be incorporated at no loss, then well and good. Ballet is not a treatise on current affairs. BALLET MUST APPEAL TO THE EYE. [Haskell’s capitalisation]

All in all a very interesting purchase.

Li Cunxin honoured

Former artistic director of Queensland Ballet, Li Cunxin AO, has been presented with the Prix de Lausanne 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award. The award recognises his exceptional career from overcoming adversity early in life, to his rise as a celebrated dancer before leading Queensland Ballet to global success.

The Prix de Lausanne has, since 2017, presented its Lifetime Achievement Award to a dancer or choreographer who has made an outstanding contribution to the ballet world. The recent award to Li is such a well deserved recognition of his contribution to dance! Other notable recipients include Wayne McGregor and Alessandra Ferri.

Portrait of Li Cunxin, 2023. Photo: © David Kelly

Alice Topp and Houston Ballet

Houston Ballet, directed by Stanton Welch since 2003, has recently announced its 2025-2026 season. Among the works to be presented will be a world premiere from Australian choreographer Alice Topp as part of a triple bill called An Evening with the Stars. The triple bill opens in late May 2026. Neither Topp’s work nor its accompanying music has been named as yet but Topp’s choreographic career clearly continues to grow internationally. Read more about her work and career to date at this link.

An oral history I recorded with Topp for the National Library of Australia in November 2024 is now available online at this link.

News from Mirramu Creative Arts Centre

Vivienne Rogis, co-founder with Elizabeth Cameron Dalman of Mirramu Creative Arts Centre, has recently returned to Canberra from Melbourne, to rejoin Dalman at Mirramu as assistant director. The Mirramu website records:

Viv Rogis is a pilates and movement practitioner with 30 years experience. She believes in the power of movement as medicine for the body and mind. She is interested in movement as art, as fun, as medicine, as community.

Her practice incudes performance, choreography, teaching, curating, researching, & writing about dance. Most recently she has been focused on pilates to help people reach their movement goals including pain reduction, prehab and rehab, as well as strength and capacity building for athletes and dancers.

Vivienne Rogis in *All my trials*, Mirramu Dance Company, 2015. Photo: © Barbie Robinson

Rogis performed in Canberra on many occasions before moving to Melbourne. Read about some of those performances at this link.

Coming up …

I am looking forward to seeing Kenneth MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet as staged by Queensland Ballet, which opens towards the end of March. Watch this brief clip in which ballet master Matthew Lawrence talks about staging the production. It is especially interesting to hear him discuss making the production ‘three dimensional’.

Michelle Potter, 28 February 2025