Journals + newsletters

Julie Dyson has been the National Director of Ausdance since the Australia Council for the Arts began funding the organisation in 1985. Shirley McKechnie pays tribute to this influential leader.

Jonathan Marshall elaborates on Shona's own research into indigenous and ‘tribal’ dance in the Philippines, drawing links between the early history of modernist dance in Europe and the German language states, and later developments in the Asia-Pacific, New Zealand, and Australia. Particular attention is paid to the often neglected issue of religion and spirituality, with MacTavish’s project being identified as a specifically Christian ecumenical approach.

Jonathan Marshall has edited this account by Shona Dunlop MacTavish of her experiences in the Phillippines in 1971, when she received a grant to research the dance of 12 tribal groups thoughout the country.

This paper outlines the Future Landings project run by Ausdance WA, examining how the artistic relationships between the choreographers played out, and suggests steps that may be taken to ensure that such ‘facilitated marriages’ have the best chance of success.

Independent artist Martin del Amo explains the process of his research and creation of his latest work Anatomy of an Afternoon, made in collaboration with dancer Paul White.

Dancer Paul White talks about the working process and the evolution of character and movement behind Martin del Amo's solo work Afternoon of a Faun.

Amanda Card talks about her research with Martin del Amo on Anatomy of an Afternoon which was part of a project funded by Critical Path's Responsive Programme. The intent of Martin’s research was to expand and challenge his choreographic process by using a historical source as stimulation as well as experimenting with the transference of his particular choreographic framework onto another dancer.

At a showing at Critical Path in 2011 Erin Brannigan responded strongly to Paul White’s performance of Martin del Amo’s work-in-progress, Anatomy of an Afternoon, believing it to signal a new direction for the choreographer. She shares her thoughts on the transposition of del Amo’s movement style as witnessed in White’s performance.

Martin del Amo talks to Matthew Day about the influence of Vaslav Nijinski in relation to Anatomy of an Afternoon: the thwarting of desire and expectation; the utility of stillness; and the centrality of the quotidian and the animal.

Dancer Kristina Chan reflects on Martin del Amo's choreography and Paul White's performance in Anatomy of an Afternoon. For her the work was a clear and self-effacing exploration of a journey with a creature-like being.

Designer, curator and scholar of contemporary dance, Justine explores two aspects of the performative event of Anatomy of an Afternoon by Martin del Amo. One has to do with its placing; what happens when the avant garde moves to inhabit big ‘C’ cultural institutions. The other concerns its timing; how can work that has entered the canon of the historical avant garde retain newness and experimentation, the power to startle or even shock, in present-day reinterpretation.

Dr Maggi Phillips responds to the imaginative promptings of Chrissie Parrott and Jonathon Mustard's work Baraqoda, delving into its creative proccesses and musing on the changing and enduring relationships between text, music and dance.

One of Rosalind Crisp's dancers and collaborators, Jo Pollitt, talks about the demands of Ros's creative processes and practices as they make dance.

Dr Mark Carroll describes the people, press and politics in Adelaide when Colonel Wassily de Basil arrived for the first Australian tour of his Ballet Russes in 1936.

Dance historian and scholar, Garry Lester continues his discussion of Margaret Barr's achievements at Dartington Hall in Devon during the 1930s.

Lee Christofis talks about the different cultural and social attitudes to dancing, and how dance featured in his childhood growing up in Greek-Australian family in Brisbane.

Irina Baronova, Valrene Tweedie & Anna Volkova share some memories of their performances of Leonide Massine's symphonic ballets, Choreartium, Symphonie Fantastique and Les Présages.

In this peer-reviewd article, Dr Mark Carroll (lecturer at Elder Conservatorium of Music) talks eloquently about the cultural effects of the Australian visits of the de Basil Ballet Russes, focusing on the symphonic ballets of Leonide Massine.

Dancer, traveller and adventurer, Peter Furness muses about what makes Australian dancers unique and why so many are driven to foreign shores to find influence and employment.

This essay overviews Sela Kiek's study into Western tourist practices and explains how this research informed her creative strategies for Circulate (2004), a site-specific movement piece that responded to the Hawthorn Town Hall, Melbourne.