Floeur Alder

Perusing the Canberra program for Australian Dance Week I was instantly surprised by news of the opening celebration, which will take place on International Dance Day, 29 April. Ausdance ACT has programmed this event to occur on top of Mount Ainslie, a beautiful spot whose current vista would thrill the designers of Canberra, Walter Burley Griffin and his partner, Marion Mahony Griffin.

But delving further into the choice of an outdoor venue, Cathy Adamek, Executive Director of Ausdance ACT, explained a little about why Mount Ainslie was chosen. There are a few reasons but importantly, according to Ngunnawal Elder Aunty Serena, Mount Ainslie figures significantly in the cultural background of the Indigenous people who inhabited the area long before it became Canberra. Aunty Serena will deliver the Welcome to Country at the opening. You may hear more from her about Mount Ainslie’s significance.

Here is what the program tells us of the event:

Join us on top of Mount Ainslie for International Dance Day as we celebrate 2026 Australian Dance Week. Hosted by Ausdance ACT Executive Director Dr Cathy Adamek featuring a special appearance by the Diamonds of Dance Week! Dress in your sparkly best and join us for a celebratory picnic. Traditional welcome and smoking ceremony by Ngunnawal Elder Aunty Serena from Yukkumbruk Dreaming. To be officially opened by Minister for the Arts Michael Pettersson MLA.

LIz Lea, study for *Diamond*. Photo: © O & J Wikner Photography

But to the dance component for the week. There is, as is the usual practice, many Canberra dance schools offering free classes over the week for prospective students to try out various approaches to dance education. There is also a variety of workshops for beginners to professionals in dance-related activities and projects. What stands out from an overall look at the program is the diversity of dance that characterises the Canberra dance scene. Dance Week in Canberra includes items focusing on ballet and contemporary dance as well as folk dance, hip hop activities, street performances, dance as a meditative activity, and so much more.

Classes with ZEST. Dance for Well Being will be part of the 2026 program. Photo: © Art Atelier

Also featured in the 2026 program is the work of Floeur Alder and her colleagues. Alder does not live or work on a regular basis in the ACT but she has a long-standing connection with the city. She is the daughter of Lucette Aldous and Alan Alder, both of whom, after exceptional careers as performers across the world, were responsible for helping develop the tertiary dance component of the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA). Alan Alder was born in Canberra, took his early dance training there and went to Canberra High School. There are still various relatives of the Alder family living in Canberra so it is a pleasure to have his daughter as part of the 2026 ACT Dance Week program.

The film POINTE. Dancing on a Knife’s Edge, which focuses on Alder’s recovery from a brutal knife attack that left her badly injured, will be shown as part of the week’s activities. Adamek was especially touched by the way dance was part of Alder’s recovery process and tells me the film ‘shows how dance can be a personal story’ and that ‘it indicates that dance can be used as a form of therapy’. In addition, Alder will give a solo performance of Djilba a work created by Alder and artist Virginia Ward that combines dance, poetry and imagery.

Floeur Alder in a moment from *Djilba*. Photo: © Michael Juliff

See more about Djilba, including a trailer and a demonstration by Alder of a particular section of her choreography, at this link. Alder will also give a special class that features Boris Kniaseff’s floor barre technique, a technique admired and taught earlier by her mother Lucette Aldous.

The 2026 ACT Dance Week is brimming with surprising activities. Don’t miss them. See the full program at this link.

And below is the view from Mount Ainslie where the opening event will be held. Follow Anzac Parade from the War Memorial in the foreground, over Lake Burley Griffin to Old Parliament House then on to New Parliament House. Other significant Canberra buildings (including the High Court and the National Library) are in the image and forming the background is the beautiful Brindabella mountain range.

Michelle Potter, 7 April 2026

One of Australia’s best known and most admired ballerinas, Lucette Aldous, has died in Perth at the age of 82.

New Zealand-born, Lucette Aldous trained in Brisbane with Phyllis Danaher and then in Sydney at the Scully-Borovansky School where her main teacher was Kathleen Danetree. She was awarded the Frances Scully Scholarship to continue her training overseas and entered the Royal Ballet School in London in 1955.

In 1957 she began her professional career with Ballet Rambert where she danced not only the classics like Giselle and Coppélia and but also early works by Antony Tudor, Frederick Ashton, Walter Gore, John Cranko and Kenneth MacMillan. Her time with Rambert also included a 1957 tour to China.

Following her time with Rambert she danced with London Festival Ballet and then with the Royal Ballet (second company). It was while working with the Royal Ballet that she first performed with Rudolf Nureyev, partnering him in Nutcracker during a European tour.

Her partnership with Nureyev blossomed after she returned to Australia in 1970. She joined the Australian Ballet that year and danced the role of Kitri to Nureyev’s Basilio in Don Quixote, jointly directed by Nureyev and Robert Helpmann. The role of Kitri particularly suited Aldous’ vivacious and effervescent personality. She also performed with extraordinary technical accomplishment both on stage and in the film version, which premiered in 1973, when she truly gave Nureyev a ‘run for his money’ —no easy feat. Over her career she did, however, dance the role with others.

(left) Rudolf Nureyev as Basilio and Lucette Aldous as Kitri in *Don Quixote*. The Australian Ballet, 1970, National Library of Australia; (right) Gary Norman as Basilio and Lucette Aldous as Kitri in *Don Quixote*. The Australian Ballet, 1972, National Library of Australia. Both photos: Walter Stringer

Lucette Aldous and Robert Helpmann in rehearsal for the film, 'Don Quixote', the Australian Ballet 1972. Photo: Don Edwards — Lucette Aldous and Robert Helpmann in rehearsal for the film production of *Don Quixote*. The Australian Ballet 1972. Photo: Don Edwards. National Library of Australia

Aldous danced a wide variety of roles while with the Australian Ballet and another milestone in her career occurred in 1975 when Ronald Hynd created the role of Valencienne on her in his production of The Merry Widow. During the 1970s Aldous continued to guest with companies in England, America and Europe and had a featured role with Fernando Bujones in the film The Turning Point.

Kelvin Coe and Lucette Aldous in Frederick Ashton’s *The Two Pigeons*. The Australian Ballet, 1975. Photo: Walter Stringer. National Library of Australia

After retiring from full-time performing in the mid 1970s Aldous taught at the Australian Ballet School and then in 1982 joined the faculty of the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA), Edith Cowan University, Perth. She and husband Alan Alder, whom Aldous had married in 1972, also spent a number of months in St Petersburg studying the teaching methods and philosophy behind the Vaganova system of training as espoused by the Kirov ballet school. Aldous has also been an advocate of Boris Kniaseff’s floor barre as a system of training.

After retiring from full-time work at WAAPA, Aldous continued to live in Perth and to coach, adjudicate and teach.

In 1999 Aldous received an honorary doctorate from Edith Cowan University while at the Australian Dance Awards she received the award for Services to Dance in 2001 and Lifetime Achievement in 2009. In the Australia Day Honours List of 2018 she was made a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC).

Lucette Aldous is survived by her daughter, Floeur Alder.

Lucette Aldous: born Auckland, New Zealand, 26 September 1938; died Perth, Australia, 5 June 2021

Michelle Potter, 6 June 2021

Some resources:
Lucette Aldous was interviewed for the National Library of Australia’s oral history program in 1999. The interview is available online and is full of information about her background as well as containing many fascinating anecdotes about those she worked with during her extensive career. Listen at this link.

Aldous has also featured in a 2001 film by Michelle Mahrer, The Three Ballerinas. She appears along with Marilyn Rowe and Marilyn Jones in the trailer below.

She also appears in Sue Healey’s On View Series. Read a little about it at this link.

Lucette Aldous in a sitll from Sue Healey's short film 'Lucette Aldous'. — Lucette Aldous in stills from Sue Healey’s short film *Lucette Aldous*

Featured image: Portrait of Lucette Aldous as Kitri in Don Quixote. The Australian Ballet, 1970. Photo: Walter Stringer. National Library of Australia

Australian Dance Week, 2026. Ausdance ACT

Lucette Aldous, AC (1938-2021)