Our contributors—the talented people who research and write about dance—their work champions innovation, creativity and diversity in dance.
Alison East View Full Bio
Alison East lectures in Dance Studies at the University of Otago, teaching Choreography, Somatics and Community Dance. In 1989 she established New Zealand’s first contemporary choreography qualification at Unitec, Auckland, which spawned a new generation of New Zealand dance artists. Her research concerns Ecodance pedagogy, Trans-locational Dance Education and Trans-disciplinary research.
Latest contributions
The role of dance studies in a transdisciplinary university research environment
Rodney Edgecombe View Full Bio
Rodney Stenning Edgecombe lectures English literature at the University of Cape Town, and holds one of its Distinguished Teacher Awards. He took his MA with distinction at Rhodes University, where he won the Royal Society of St George Prize for English, and his PhD at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he was awarded the Members' English Prize, 1978/1979. He has published 11 books-the most recent being on Thomas Hood-and 332 articles on topics that range from Shakespeare to nineteenth-century ballet and opera.
Latest contributions
Ronald Hynd's Merry Widow: Toward a definition of the 'Ballet Lyrique'
A ragbag of ballet music oddments
Drama and music in ballet scores a glossary in the form of an essay
Graeme Murphy’s Nutcracker
Monte Engler View Full Bio
Monte Engler, an accountant specialising in Self-Managed Superannuation, is involved with research,administration and compliance in the field and works for the University of Adelaide and SuperGuardian Pty Ltd. Ausdance SA’s Treasurer, he is also finishing his Masters of Commerce (Accounting) degree.
Latest contributions
When in doubt, laugh
Shona Erskine View Full Bio
Shona graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts School of Dance with a Bachelor of Dance in 1994. She went on to gain a Bachelor of Arts (First Class Honours) Psychology at Deakin University in 2000, and a MPsych/PhD (Industrial/Organisational Psychology) from the University of Melbourne in 2007. Her PhD comprised a case study of an effective contemporary dance education program and its participating youth. Shona has taught dance at Deakin University, the Victorian College of the Arts and the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts. She has also been involved in a number of dance related research projects at Edith Cowan University, Australian Dance Theatre, and Flinders University.