National Library of Australia - Gateways

ISSN 1039-3498 | no. 62 | April 2003


Australian Dance at the National Library

David McAllister, Artistic Director, The Australian Ballet, launches the Australia Dancing Web Site and The Collector's Book of Australian Dance. Photographer: Angela Lynkushka

David McAllister, Artistic Director, The Australian Ballet, launches the Australia Dancing Web Site and The Collector's Book of Australian Dance
Photographer: Angela Lynkushka

 

Late last year two major initiatives associated with Australian dance came to fruition. Throughout the year many people wondered why one of Australia’s premier institutions had focused its attention on dance. Did such an ephemeral art form really have a history to record? But in Melbourne on 23 February 2003 the National Library, in association with Ausdance, the peak industry body for dance in Australia, launched two new products that demonstrated that dance in Australia has a proud history and an exciting future. The web portal, Australia Dancing, and the publication, A Collector’s Book of Australian Dance, were outcomes of several years of activity within the Library and both highlighted one of the Library’s important collecting strengths—Australian dance. The launch demonstrated too that the National Library is at the forefront, technologically and artistically, of initiatives to document the wide-ranging activities of Australia’s talented choreographers, dancers, directors and dance companies.

Sunday 23 February was probably one of the hottest days Melbourne had experienced for some time and the studios of Victoria’s major contemporary dance company, Chunky Move, where the launch took place, were not air-conditioned. But in true professional style the guests, who represented both the dance and library communities, rose to the occasion. The Chair of the National Library Council, Sir James Gobbo, led the official ceremonies. David McAllister, Artistic Director of the Australian Ballet, launched both the book and the portal. The Minister for the Arts, the Hon. Senator Rod Kemp, gave an address. Special guests included Felicia Palanca, Senior Artist with the Australian Ballet, who is strikingly featured on the cover of A Collector’s Book of Australian Dance, and Lisa Bolte, former Principal Dancer with the Australian Ballet and now proud mother of four month old Olivia Madeleine.

Kate Denborough and Gerard van Dyck from Kage Physical Theatre gave an energetic performance at the launch. Photographer: Angela Lynkushka

Kate Denborough and Gerard van Dyck from Kage Physical Theatre gave an energetic performance at the launch
Photographer: Angela Lynkushka

 

But perhaps the most professional attitude of all came from the two dancers from Kage Physical Theatre, Kate Denborough and Gerard van Dyck, who provided the entertainment for the occasion. Their performance, beautifully conceived to be a seamless part of the launch, necessitated the wearing of ‘fat suits’ made of pure new wool. While there were reputedly tiny fans inside the suits, no-one could deny that it was not the ideal apparel for the occasion. It was a very hot afternoon! But as all performers know, the show must go on. And it did.

But if the heat caused some tiny ripples of discomfort, or amusement even—it certainly provided a hot topic of conversation—the significance of the two products launched was not in question. A Collector’s Book of Australian Dance, the second in the Library’s Collectors series, draws on material from across the range of the Library’s unique collecting areas, Oral History, Manuscripts, Pictures and Ephemera. It has been warmly received in Australia and in the United Kingdom where it is currently being offered as a prize on a major internet dance site in London. It has also been nominated in New York for the de la Torre Bueno Prize for dance books. The launch provided a wonderful occasion for guests to have their copies autographed and David, Felicia and Lisa all obliged. 

The development of the portal, <www.australiadancing.org> was facilitated by a Strategic Partnerships grant from the Dance Board of the Australia Council. The portal, which gives users access to current and historical information about dance in Australia, is receiving a healthy number of daily visits already, approximately twice that of its predecessor, the directory to the Australian Dance Collection. The launch provided an occasion for the site to be demonstrated and for the Australia Council’s support and the strength of the Library’s industry partnership with Ausdance to be celebrated.

The National Library has quite simply the most significant collection of dance materials in Australia. And with dance a growing area of cultural studies, and with Australia Council research indicating that 3.4 million visits are made in Australia in any one year to dance performances, it makes sense to build on the Library’s strength through initiatives such as were launched in Melbourne in February. In the hands of our contemporary artists dance is also a hot art form!
—Michelle Potter, Curator of Dance

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