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NO 7 DECEMBER 1993
AT THE ACADEMY QUEENSLA~D UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, ACADEMY OF THE ARTS- DANCE , LOCKED BAG NO 2, RED HI·LL, QLD 4059
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WELCOME ... We are pleased to bring you the
seventh edition of Dance at the Academy. 1993 draws rapidly to a close and construction of new facilities for dance will be complete this month. Three large studios, physio and costume construction facilities, student change rooms and staff offices will add to the quality of life on campus. Our proximity to the Human Move-
. rilents teaching area ,wi II (rigger joint research projects and activities.
Our graduation season. Body Line, has just compl~ted . its Brisbane and , North Queensland tour with very favourable reviews. We were thrilled to
. have Garth Welch in our studios choreographing Dreamscape in ballet style for the season.
I hope you enjoy the 'following snapshot of Dance at the Academyand we'd love to hear from graduates for our next issue in Marcb '94. Details of .how to stay in touch are on the right (page 3).
A/Prof Susan Street Acting Head, QUT.Academy of the Arts
COMMUNITY NEWS Third year Bachelor of Arts (Dance)
studentsenrolled in Dance in the Community took up a variety of placements in the community as part ot the s_ubject's assessment ' . , ·
Stacie McGregor worked with Ausdance helping to plan for Dance Week; Gene Barrell and_ Greg Tebb contributed to a movement and visual arts Rrogram at' Prince Charles Psychiatric Hospital; Fiona Miller joined the Combined Union Choir in their preparation for May Day; Mylan Soriano and Amanda Smith' designed and im-
- pletnented tap dance classes for visually impaired students at Mt Gravatt Special Educatibn Unit; Hayley Ashfield participated in a Eurythmy workshop for older participants through the Prime of Life Program offered through the Queensland Performing Arts Trust; Pamela Buckman and Andrea Officer participated in . and contributed to a moveme(_)t project
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. entitled Expanding the Limits which , was facilitated by the .Disabled Arts Program also offered by QPAT; Scotia Monkivitch ana Sally Keft were both involved in movement workshops for
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Dancers (L-R) Elizabeth Wagner, Linda Nielson, Karina Sn:Jith, Anita Kertland, Michelle Carolan, Phillippa Oakden. Photo Sesh Ramon
' Cover detail: Pem1yMoore and Robert Duckworth, You Bright
and Shining Angels, choreography Harold Collins.
people with disabilities organised by Access Arts; and Avril Huddy and Elissa Fullerton spent their placement: in a series of multi-arts workshops with ·Access Arts.
The students made cbntracts ·with - their placement supervisors so ' that expectations were-as clear as possible for both parties. Their attenqance, attitude, involvement and abi I ity to carry ' out given tasks were then monitored. These fieldwork placements are de- _ signed to · encourage students to be aware of the range Qf possible adaptations of the dance knqwledge and skills gained. In their course. It also gives them the,opportunity to observe the processes employed by professional artists when working with various groups in a ran,geofcontextswithin · the community . The group has a chance-to meet and share their expe·
' riences after the -placements - discov- · ering'how they might use their dance skills; realising how creative .!un-trained' participants can be; seeing the value of the inclusion of arts activities in community progrqmS and generally communicating and networking·with the ' real world ' .
janet Donald
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KILLAR AUDITIONS FOR NZ BALLET
Ashley Killar, artistic director of the Royal New Zealand Ballet, conducted auditions in Brisbane this October,·though he wiJI not b~ contracting dancers until later in the year.
He commented very favourably . about QUT students, saying they were a credit to the Academy and its staff. H,e W?S impressed by their healthy ·
. respect for ballet their grooming and high technical standard.
QUTisbuildinglinkswiththecom- \ pany after Ashley's first visit.in 1992to
·mount Dark Waves. Gra.eme Collins , was invited to take daily company classes whife the company was tour-
. ing New Zealand in September this year. Graeme has been asked to return to help prepare the company dancers for their opening season which includes Balanchine works.
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BODY LINE SEASON BRINGS WENDY BACK
TO BRISBANE
The QUT Academy of the Arts dance graduatioli1 season, Body Line, brought one of the world's finest young· dancers back to Brisbane to share the Concert Hall stage with graduating dance students on 23 and 24 November. ·
One of the highlights of the lively diverse program was expatriate gradu-
' ate Wendy 'Laraghy performing an excerpt from Who Ca_res by George Balanchine set to music by George Gershwin. ·
Wendy was 'thrilled to perform in her home town again and has kept strong links with herfriends from early dance training at QUT. She was only too happy to share her experiences as a professional dancer on the world stage-f with today' s Academy dance students.
Aust~alia' s most respected dance professional, Garth Welch, choreographed the hauntingly beautiful bal-. let Dreamscape -specially for Body Line.
Danced 'on pointe' by female dancers, it was both technically and dramatically challenging.
Shaaron Boughen's contempor"ry choreography provided an intriguing, I ight-hearted contrast.
Recently returned from London studying choreography for her Masters degree, Shaaron presented a twopart work looking at how dancers utilise their sense of body weight in relation to the space and others around them.
The quirky inventive group piece Equizontal Play was followed by
"'Memory of Modern Dance where young couples reminiscent of Gene Kelly'and Katherine Hepburn engaged in contact duet work.
One of Australia's foremost folk and character dance specialists, Dianna Laska-Moore provided a rousing celebration of youthful exuberance and cplourwith a Hungarial) folk dance, Hungarian Dance Suite.
Body Line concluded with Sydney dancer, producer and cboreographer Robyn Moase creating a medley of dance numbers from _the George Gershwin musi-cal My One and Only.
DANCE
Body Line toured. Proserpine, Gladston~ and Rockhampton fdllowing the Brisbane performances in the PerformingArtsComplexC:oncertHall .
Maureen Frame
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STAY IN TOUCH , If you would like to submit an
article or tell us the whereabouts a1_1d activities of past dance students fr9m QUT and BCAE, contact: The Editor, Dance at the Academy, QUT Acadc emy of the Arts, Lot ked Bag No 2, Red Hill, 4059. Tel (07) 864 3423. Fax (07) 864 3734. Photographs should be good quality colour or black and white prints. The deaqline for the next issue is 31 January 1994.
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Top: Graduate Wendy Laraghy performing in Europe Above: Steven Lavender and'Eiissa Fullerton rehearSing Memory of Modern Dance by Shaaron Boughen
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T'HE -JADE EX~ERIENCE: ACADEMY DANCE ON ,.wO-RLD sTAGE·
- Early one Monday morning in August,...Susan Street (Acting Head of the Academy), myself, and eleven Academy of the Arts Dance students, jetted off to the Japan Asia Dance Event Uade) c onference, performance snowcase and international dance festival , held in Tokyo. _
'This annual event conducted each yeiu throughout the Asia Pacific rim
was set up to provide a dance forum · for the culturally diverse nations en
compassing this vast area. The central focus of the ~vent is on the interaction and discussion of contemporary issues relating to dance education, research and practice. · 1994 will see the ·conference-held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and hopefully Australia will be the host in 1996.
Q UT Academy of the Arts - Dance - · was invited to participate this year,
due to our increasing recognition and profile as a major player in the internati.onal arena of arts education andtrai n-ing. _
Participation at thi~ event was the · culminatic;>n of a hectic,;; build-up over several months of logistical preparations and rehearsals . However, the week in Tokyo provid~d an exhilarat-
. . irig experience for all of us. Ideas and information· with other dance academics were exchanged; conference papers covering a wide range of topics were presented (inciuding ·Sue Street's paper" or:-1 dance criticism in Australia); technique classes and 1
workshops were on offer; and a performance showcase, h ighl ighti ng various· dance groups and individuals
from the Asia-Pacific rim, was presented each day.
My . role as tour and production man;ager was to coordinate our per-
- formance activities, organising classes and rehearsals, including production liaison w ith the Japanese technical crew, and facilitatin'g the_smoothnes·s_ -of our ac;commodation and travel arrangements. The eleven QUT dance stu,dents conducted themselves in a thoroughly professional manner and acted as worthy ambassadors for the University and Australia. -
The showcase performance was opened by QUT presenting Harold ' Collins' You Bright and Shining Angels and Natalie Weir's Down Rivers ofSpine .~Sue and-1, sitting in the audience were like two nervous parents about to ,watch our child step onto the
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stage for the first tim~ . We both agreed that this was worse than any tin;te in our own performance careers. The theatre ,was full, as throughout the week interest had been growing in this particular event: Many of the contacts we had made during the week from other Asian countries and·the United States were in attendance. Tbere were arso large groups of students from Japan; Korea and Taiwan. However, our nerves soon· gave way to relief and satisfaction as the dancers performed ~ with an obvious intense commitment and pride in their work. Their high standard of dancing and performance discipline drew'-praise and compliments from the large and responsive audience. I was later interviewed for a glossy English-speaking Japanese magazine, Pacific friend, whose journalist was impressed by the quality of ' work displayed by the QUT dance ~uden~ . .
The success of this venture will no doubt enhance the growing ._ reputation the QUT Academy of Arts is gain:ing ~ n Asia. We hope this is only the beginning of establishing important culrural links within this Asia/Pacific sphere.
A successful anq rewarding trip such as this is al.so due to· the many people who helped make it ,happeh. For~most was the encoura&emern and support we .received from the Acting , Dean of the Faculty of the Arts, Peter l::avery. Grateful and whole-hearted thanks goes to Jill Standfield and the Academy office. The pre-trip technical assistance I received from the Drama Program's David t0cCrudden, ·in working through the Japanese I ighting rig system and devising our basic plan fqr plotting, was of tremendous value. Further technical support was gladl y' received· from Stephanie Walkem and the Academy Produc-· tion office. '
T 9 these people and many others who helped, we say thank you for affording the dance students the op~ portunity to participate at this·prestigious, international event.
Graeme Collins
A STU DI.:NT'S ·JADED IMPRESSIONS
A bunch of eleven excited students from the Academy of the Arts -Dance ~nd their'two travel gurus~ dance lecturers Sue Street arid Graeme Collins, ' travelled to Japan in August to' participate in the international dance festival , 'JADE '93 . . .
One member of the group, a cer-' tain young man named Jonathon, experienced flying on a plane for the first time- so it was not difficult to know where the squeals of delight and hyperactivity were originating from.
In hindsight the meals on the flight gave us invaluable practical experi-
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ence at asking, "What is that?" when presented with fpod that looked like it had come from another planet, not just another country_ '
. Narita Airport was busy, extremely large and very foreign. However, we had no fear in losing each other, as all we had to do was glance three 'feet above the heads of the' crowds and there was Clinton -or Mount Schlong with snow on top as Graeme so fondly calls him. > •
We battled with Shinjuku Station (the largest train station and subway network in the world which contains fou~ different department stores each twice the size of the Myer Centre and . which ser;vicestwo million people each day) to catch a train to 1\Jakano where the JADE festiv'af was being held.
Thetheatrecomplex, Nakano Zero, was quite new and although we·were suitably impressed with the sensor taps and differently-styled lavatories, the rehearsal rooms were-quite -small and the floors were very slippery. Clinton's head nearly touohed the ceiling and the eleven of us just managed to squeeze along the barre. · ·
After a day exploring Ginza and other parts of Tokyo and attending a masterclass givenfiy Leon Koning, we went to our first official festival event
, where we were to meet the other showcase performers. The tneeting
, consisted of Indian musicians playing traditional music and any showcase
·participant getting up on stage, introducing themselves, then improvising for 1-3 minutes. It was great!
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. As we were the only large group, we decided it would be too busy for individual -improvisations so we performed a group section from Down Rivers of Spine, even though the tempo' was_twke the normal pace!
After unsuccessfully trying to bribe the hotel staff into giving us a ball_!:oom to rehearse in, the day of the perfo~mance. dawned and we were all excited and nervous about finally doing what we had come so far to do.
The performance went extremely well and afterwards we satin the aud ience to view tne rest o.f the showcase performances. That night we attended a performance by the Hong Kong Dance Ensemble in lkebu1<uro.
We rode up and down the longest escalator-in the world (where Steven used the opportunity to practise his· ponchees on a moving surface- much to the distaste ofthe security guards!); visited temples; shopp~d; and even attempted the local cuisine.
'There is nothing I ike comIng home; but I can honestly say that every single one of us has memories of the wonderful experiences we shq.red in Japan. May we extend our heartfelt thanks to those who made this trip possible and hope that we made· QUT proud.
Sayonara! · Gene Barrell ...
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GRADUATE NEWS I
Grant Whitfield (ADA 1991) is ' currently performing in Phantom of the Opera. Prior to this he featured in
· Andrew Uoyd . Webber's Aspects of Love in Sydney. Grant also recently received the Medibank Private Young Achiever Award for Performing Arts.
- Tracey Edwards (BA 1988/ Graduate Diploma in Teaching) has taken up a teaching appointment at Biloela State High School. Tracey refused an earlier teaching offer, instead working with F,ramework Dance for .a touring season supported by the Queensland Arts Council ' s education program.
jolie Eyre (BA 1991/Graduate Diploma in Early Childhood) has taken up a six -month contract teaching Year 5 at Mt Gravatt State School. One Acade'my Dance lecturer's child is in her care and we know 'that the ch-il , dren are very appreciative of'her approach and skill.
Academy of ·the Arts University _ Medal \'\;'inner, Nicole Galea (BA
\ 1992), received a contract and is dancing with the Natal Performing Arts~ Council (NAPAC) Dance Company in Durban, South Africa. Prior ·to her departure for South Africa, Nicole performed with the Queensland Ballet in Parades Gone By during their July Brisbane season. Also in July,
· Nicole danced in the Lyric Opera of ' Queensland's. highly successful pro
d~ction of Lucia di Larrimemoor. Performing also in Lucia (choreog
raphy remounted .by Dance lecturer Graeme Collins) were fellow graduates Leah Doherty JBA 1992), Sue Harv,ey (ADA 1992), Halcyon Clark (ADA 1992) and Darren Vizer (ADA 1991 ). '
Auditions were held for four dancers for the LyriE: Opera's seasonLof The force of Destiny. Those places successfully went to NicQie Arthur (ADA
r 1991) and . Darren Vizer (ADA 1991) and current Bachelor of Arts Perform
, ance maJors,. Elissa Fullerton and Steven Lavender. . _ ·
News of other dai]ce graduates include Sharon Winney (ADA 1992) pe2forming in theJupitersCasinoshow on the Gold Coast and Miranda l::uck, and Louise Taube (BA 1992) working respectively with
1the Queensland Bal
let and Expressions Dance Company sdwols touring shows.
Clare Dyson (BA 1991) has re-
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Nicole Galea and Grant Whitfield
cently returned from another successful trip to the American Dance Festi-
. yal. Clare plans to continue her work in collaborativ~ artsr choreographic projects. Clare is also an- honours graduate from Visual Arts . ' ,
Gabrielle johnston (ADA 1992) currently with the Australian Opera dancers nasbeen working with fellow gradyates Tuula'Roppola (ADA 1990) and Michelle Ryan (ADA 1989) in p. new co-produced Meryl Tankard production for the AO in Sydney ·and
, Melbourne. Both Tuula and Michelle are dancers with Meryl Tankard;sA.l,J stralian Dance Theatre in Adelaide.
!\1ark Reece (ADA 1987) recently wrote to the Academy of the Arts -[Jance and advised of his appointment as Artistic Director of the Melbourne-based Ensemble Dance Theatre. EDT is a dant e in education company taking dance and theatre to kindergarten and lower primary children throughout Victoria and metropoli~at;l Sydney. Working with Mark in his small troupe is fellow 1987'ADAg~apu- ate, Wendy Kitzelman.
The Academy of the Arts - Dance wish Mark and all our graduates continued success in their many ventures.
· , Elissa Gibbs (ADA 1990) and Miranda Lind (ADA 1.990) currently r •
workiJlg in European dance compa- · nies, recently returned and visited the Academy of the A,rts - Dance quriiig their holidays. Elissa was enthusiastically looking forward to her company's (the I nternatioQal Folkloric Dance Company of Amsterdam)-tour to China and India. Miranda, who is with Tanz Fo-rum in Cologne, shoyved dance staff a video of the exciting work she is doing with this l?remier Ge~inan company.
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ON TOUR WITH ' . '
THE ROYAL NEW ZEALAND BALLET
September this year I was invited by the Royal New Zealand Ballet's Artistic Director, Ashley Killar, to tour with the ballet company _for three
·weeks as a guest teacher. The RNZB had approachedille to work with them later in the year at their home base in Wellington, butduetoan injury to the ballet master and assistant to the Artistic Director, Peter Boyes, I received this call at rather short notice to help tnem-out. Fortunately the time coincided with our two weeks of class free, so there waf minimum di'sruption to my teaching duties at QUT.
The RNZB is a professional, classical based company of around 26 dancers. Based in Wellington and being the n~tional ballet company, it is required
. totourconstantl ~, performing throughout both the North and South Islands. The company has·also undertaken several lengthy overseas-tours including several Queensland coastal regional centres last September. I joined the company in the harbour city of Aucklard three weeks into a national tour.
' Apart from the exce-llent Aotea (Performing Arts) Ceotre i.r::t Auckland, the experience and touring environment was reminiscent of my time 'working ' as ·a dancer in England 20 years ago with the London F.estival Ballet ·- travelling and performing throughout cold, wet and windy regional ce·ntres.
Many of the theatres in these regional cities and towns are charming and singly theatrical (seasoned practical venues alive with memorabilia from the hey day of J C WiiOam's'
· touring shows) . The stages were often raked and floors hard compared to the more modern performing arts complexes built since the 1970s. Travel was by chartered coach lasting anything from three 'to seven hours. I utilised this time to-reflect and watch the sce·nery go by, (not counting the vast number of sheep· constantly scat~ tered throughout the countryside).
On arriving in a new centre, class was held in a draughty church or community hall (also with hard floors) whilst the stage was being prepared for rehearsal an'd performances. (The technical c·rew of the RNZB must be one of the hardest working outfits around today).
DANC~
Teaching these dancers every day in' their technique class was of enormous benefit for my own professional development. It provided me with the ' opportunity to 'hone' those t~aching skills relevant to a professional arts industry environment, and to exp~ri-
ft 'ence,again first hand, the ' real world' working conditions of a dance company. Although I am regularly engaged as a guest teacher with the Queensland Ballet, thisoppo'rtunityto · work with a dance company on a · constant ,level for · a period 6 f time offered a different challenge and perspective to ·'on the job' vocational training and education .
With teaching only one technique session a day, I had time to prepare ,class content thoroughly, and develop teaching strat~gies appropriate to the various · conditions the dancers were working under. I endeavoured to consider, in the structure and teaching of class, thes~factors (perceived and real) which affected the dancer's execution of their' professional responsibi I ities.
Th is' included the pliabifity of the floor surface for jumping; the cold an·d dampness outside, and appropriate temperature on stage or in the rehearsal space for effective muscular warm-up; the hours spent travelling each day; the soreness and minor strains several dancers encountered due to the constant performing of the same repertoire; and, the psychologi, cal well-being <;>(people r,equired to perform at a peak level whilst the future-of the cornpany, in these diffi- · cult f inancial times for. the arts, is at a crucial point in its 40-year history.
The dancers responded favourably toward my work with them, and fol,- , · lowing the class I had the opportunity for one-on-one sessions with those
· seeking advice on problems relating totheir ballet technique. As part of the n.ew artistic policy of bringing in international guest teachers several times a year, The Royal New Zealand Ballet has invited me back in January to tea<Oh the dancers in their daily class for the program ofBalanchine ballets they are presenting in 1994. This consultative and vocational teaching exf'!erienc~ in a professional dance com~ pany, is influential in my personal development as a performing arts ed u-cator and trainer. _ ·
Graeme Collins
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, SUSAN STREET CHAIRS TERTIARY DANCE COUNCIL
At a recent meeting of the Tertiary Dance Council of Australia (formerly National Council of Tertiary Dance) Susan Street was elected chairperson, taking over from Valda Craig who has served as chair for the past six years. The TDCA aims,are to: • promote tertiary dance development • provide a forum for exchange of
information and debate • act as an advocacy body for dance
and dance education • contribute to policy making and
issues which are of mutual co"hcern and which have an overall effect on the development of dance and per-forming_arts in Australia .
• promote research in dance and other forms of international exchange.
, OPTIC>NS '94 The second Options festival for
tertiary dance students will be held in Perth in 1994 at the Academy of the Arts at Edith Cowen University.
Tbree major themes will be used to focus activitY: . (I) Ballet- Where. to Now? (2) Dancer as Actor ..., , (3) Dance and Film
lan Spink, a well-known English contempor~ry dam;:er, will beth~ artist -i n~residence for the festival. The QUT Academy of the Arts hopes to take a group, of students to the Perth festival with the help of fundraising activities.
INTRO TO DANCE AT THE ACADEMY
Dance at the Academy of the Arts has introduced a popular series of lectures informing people about the ADD I BA courses.
The series of night-time lectures were run over a five-week .period and consisted of practical components and informative lectures. Tre program included talks on content and diverse ~aspec-ts of the two courses. Fitness, stress management, anatomy; composition, improvisation, ballet, writings on dance, audition process and history were also discussed. , Future programs ar'e planned if
demand allows .. For further information, please ring the dance secretary on (07) 864 34'23.
Sue Caulfield-Ledercq I
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Dance students (L-R) Kerry Norris, Amy Roberts and Benjamin Dunks
.... . THE CHOREOGRAPHER'S SEAT Seven Bachelor of Arts students second year students. This year':s pro~
elected Choreograppy as their spe~ ,.gram brought a broad range ofideas cia I isation this year. They were re~ including contern,porary~ ballet, funk, quired to make 11 minutes of-chore- cabaretandamixtureofmodernduets ography over three assignments. based oh pas de deux'>(with a. gender
August 13 was the first choreo- twist) and contact improvisation. Mu-graphic showing of their work. Toe sically there were excerpts from students each studied a professionaf Carmina Burana, techno music,jame;; choreographer of their choosing, from Brown ana television jingles. The show. louis XIV to Nijiosky to Graham to demonstrated a broad rangeofexperi-Cypningham, making new work based mentation by the studen.ts as tney prac-on ideas and skills developed by those tis~d their dance making skills. Origi-chor'eographers. The students are rtally joining the course in hope of showing great skill and invention in ' becoming performers, · New Moves these works. gives the students the opportunity to
TAMING OR TRAINI-NG THE
DANCER · In appenc;!}>.< 1 (a) of the Safe Dance
Project Report 1990, I presented an article entitled The Role of the Dance Teacher. As an indirect result of this -and the report in general, I was invited to give the keynote address ' at the
- Dance UK's Conference in .london during the first week of September this year to more than 140 representatives from throughoutthe United Kingdom, . United States and Europe. ...-
1 decided to respond to A Dancer's Charter for Health and Welfare (Dam;e UK 1992) which · states "Teacher's 'should: seek to develop thinking dane.,.. ers able to respond intelligently to all aspects oftheirtraining, including new ideas, rather than dancers who 'react as puppets' with good technique."
For me as a dance. educator, this is a particularly 'exciting and challenging statemertt.
My paper introduces some reasons for ch!lnging the role_of the dan_ee teacher, then . eXplores the need to shed some light on methodologies, behaviour, characteristics and styles utilisecl by .people who teach dance.
I have looked att metaphoric perspectives in teaching and patterns of organisation in structure of self and compared ' the·m in relation to dance teaching. --'
Stu_dent anatomy begs the question: Who wants it and who is able to handle it? Encouraging and supporting stutlen~ anatomy in the studio has positive consequences for both student and teacher.
I explored the often unspoken fears ' ofanxiety, loss of control and chaos
and proffered some guidelines. My .., outline suggests ways to bring about ·~ these changes in the role of the dance, ~ teacher a nd who could be effective in ~ these sensitive areas. g
I was very stimulated and a' little ~ nervous at the thought of, presenting ~ my work to such a distinguished panel 6 (eg Anthony Dowell and Maria Faye) for comment and discussion.! hope to publish 'the paper soon with comments incorporated from my discus
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sions at the conferen·ce. Tony Geeves
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New Move~season of dance from sit in the choreographer's seat. A ~ 25 to 27 August was choreographed . Jean TaUy ;::: by the Associate Diploma of Dance 6
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