Ronne Arnold was born in Philadelphia, USA, where he attended classes in classical, modern, primitive, and Hindu dancing. He came to Australia in 1960 to appear in the musical ‘West Side Story’, and stayed on to work in musicals and dance productions throughout until the 1980s. He also taught jazz dance for many schools and organisations during this period. In 1967 he founded the Australian Contemporary Dance Company, later the Contemporary Dance Company of Australia. Arnold wrote his MA thesis based on research into the dances of the Wanam people of Cape York Peninsula. He was also dance co-ordinator for Bangarra Dance Theatre’s tour to Indonesia in 1991. Since 1986 he has taught at the National Aboriginal and Islander Skills Development Association (NAISDA College), and was academic course director for a short time until 2003.