Ausdance honours 80th birthdays of Dr Alan Brissenden & wife Elizabeth

On behalf of the Australian dance community, Ausdance wishes Alan and Elizabeth all the very best on this happy occasion.

Dr Alan Brissenden AM has a long association with Ausdance and a life-long association with the arts. He has been writing dance criticism since his student days in 1950, first in the University of Sydney student paper Honi Soit and then, while still a student in 1952 when he was invited to review for the Sydney Morning Herald. Throughout his long career as Reader in English, specialising in Shakespeare at Adelaide University, Alan has been a regular critic for The Australian, Dance Australia, the Adelaide Review and Radio Adelaide. He was for many years a member of the Board of Governors of the Adelaide Festival and President of the Friends of the State Library of South Australia.

A former chair of Adelaide University’s English Department, Alan's publications include Shakespeare and the Dance, Oxford World's Classics edition of As You Like It, numerous essays in books, journals and reference books such as The International Encyclopedia of Dance and The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare, and most recently Australia Dances.

Australia Dances by Alan Brissenden and Keith Glennon. Published by Wakefied Press 2010.
"This superb work is an imperative! Dedication and the love of dance has led to its creation. Thank you to the authors for a comprehensive powerhouse of reminiscence and visual joy."
William Akers AM, former Production Director for The Australian Ballet.

As a founding Vice-President of the Australian and New Zealand Shakespeare Association, President 1992 –  94, Alan co-convened Australia’s first international Shakespeare conference (Adelaide, 1992) and was a member of the International Shakespeare Association’s World Congress Subcommittee 1992 – 2006. In 1996 he was appointed a Member in the Order of Australia (AM) for services to the arts. Alan has been a valuable member of the Ausdance network and the Australian Dance Awards Selection Panel.

Alan in Adelaide (2007) to record an oral history for Australia Dancing. Photo: Lee Christofis. Courtesy: National Library of Australia.

Alan has been co-editor of Brolga, an Australian journal about dance since 2007 and will be handing over to Associate Professor Maggi Phillips, Dance History and Research Coordinator at WAAPA, after the December 2012 edition. The staff at Ausdance would like to thank Alan for his wise editorship over the years and for his generosity and diligence.

Happy birthday Alan & Elizabeth!