Australia Dancing - Corroboree [Dance work made to the score of John Antill] (1950

Corroboree [Dance work made to the score of John Antill] (1950 - )

Sohl, Marty: Justine Summers and Steven Heathcote in Stanton Welch's 'Corroboree', 1995

Composer John Antill completed his monumental music score, Corroboree, in the mid 1940s. Antill based the piece on Aboriginal rhythms written down on visits to Aboriginal communities at La Perouse in Sydney. He always intended the work to be used for a ballet and annotations on the score indicate that he had a clear and well developed framework in mind for this ballet. The manuscript contains detailed bar by bar instructions for the unfolding of the storyline and even lists 'characteristic movements' that might be used.

In the 1940s Dorothy Helmrich of the Arts Council of Australia approached two choreographers then working in Australia, Gertrud Bodenwieser and Edouard Borovansky, and asked them to stage the work. Both declined. The score was first used for a ballet by Rex Reid who made his version of Corroboree for the Melbourne-based National Theatre Ballet in 1950. With a set by William Constable and costumes by Robin Lovejoy the Reid Corroboree premiered at Sydney's Empire Theatre on 3 July 1950. It featured John (Jack) Manuel as the Medicine Man. Others in the original world premiere cast included Margaret Scott, Alison Lee, Bruce Morrow, Marilyn Burr and Mary Duchesne. Reid's Corroboree toured Australia in 1951 under the auspices of the Arts Council of Australia as part of the Commonwealth Jubilee Celebrations. It was seen in Melbourne, Sydney, Launceston, Hobart, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Broken Hill.

A second version of Corroboree was made by Beth Dean in 1954. Her version was performed for the first time in Sydney by the Arts Council Ballet at a gala event in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II. Dean claimed anthropological authenticity for her version and she and her husband, Victor Carell, spent several months in Arnhem Land researching Aboriginal movement patterns, which she later incorporated into her work. Dean also added a narrative line that went beyond Antill's descriptions of the music and in the 1954 staging Dean herself danced the leading role of the Initiate. The Dean version was remounted during the 1970s, specifically for the Captain Cook Bicentennary, and for this staging the Initiate was danced by Ronne Arnold. Dean's Corroboree was taught to students of the Australian Ballet School in the 1990s when it was also notated in both Benesh and Laban notations.

A third dance work using a suite from the Antill score was made in 1995 by Stanton Welch on dancers of the Australian Ballet. Performed as part of UNited We Dance, a festival held in San Francisco to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the United Nations charter, Welch's Corroboree is a generalised ritual and, unlike the Reid and Dean versions, has no passages that attempt to imitate culturally specific aspects of Australian Aboriginal dance or life. His program notes state:

With the blazing Australian sun and a pride of ten painted dancers, a series of movements becomes a dance of life, of energy for all mankind.

A disclaimer on the program read: 'This piece is not a literal interpretation of an Australian Aboriginal corroboree.' Welch's production had a set designed by Kenneth Rowell and costumes designed by Welch. It was lit by Frank Croese and featured eleven dancers: Miranda Coney, Steven Heathcote, Justine Summers, Marc Cassidy, Geon van der Wyst, Nicole Rhodes, Jane Finnie, Felicia Palanca and Matthew Trent. In 2001 Welch restaged his production for Atlanta Ballet giving it the new name Wild Life.

Further information, including online resources, about the Reid production of Corroboree is contained in the National Library of Australia's online exhibition Dance people dance. See 'Australian vision' and follow the 'More' link. For more about all the various dance productions of Corroboree see 'Corroboree' in National Library of Australia News, March 2004.

Bibliography:

Candice Bruce & Anita Callaway, 'Dancing in the Dark: Black Corroboree or White Spectacle?', Australian Journal of Art, 9 (1991), pp. 79-104; Amanda Card, 'From 'Aboriginal Dance' to Aboriginals Dancing: The Appropriation of the 'Primitive' in Australian Dance, 1950 to 1963', Heritage and Heresy: Green Mill Papers 1997 (Canberra: Australian Dance Council, c1998), pp. 40-46; Michelle Potter, 'Making Australian Dance: Themes and Variations', Voices, Winter 1996, pp. 10-20

Research Materials

Antill, John: Corrobboree [i.e. Corroboree]: a ballet suite for orchestra, c. 1950 (Manuscript): This item is a microfilm copy of the score for John Antill's ballet Corroboree. In addition to the complete musical score, the manuscript contains an introduction to the ballet written by Antill, hand drawn, coloured illustrations showing Antill's ideas for costumes and properties, Antill's proposed choreographic outline, and printed material, including illustrations, relating to William Constable's designs for the work. The fragile original is part of the papers of John Antill held by the National Library of Australia at MS 437. The name of the work is misspelt by Antill on this manuscript.; Antill, John ; Constable, William (Bill); Location:; National Library of Australia; mfm G 437
nla.cat-vn625340

Papers of John Antill (1904-1986), 1872-1987 (Manuscript): 39 boxes; 42 folio boxes; The papers of John Antill contain a significant collection of material relating to his ballet scores. Ballets represented in the collection include Corroboree, choreographed variously by Rex Reid, Beth Dean and Stanton Welch, Wakooka choreographed by Valrene Tweedie, G'Day Digger and Dreaming Time Legends, choreographed by Beth Dean, Snowy, choreographed by Margaret Barr, and Black Opal, choreographed by Dawn Swane. Material includes scores, miscellaneous writings, correspondence, diaries and scrap albums. Description of the scope of the collection and a detailed contents list is available at MS 437 Papers of John Antill (1904-1986).; Tweedie, Valrene ; Reid, Rex ; Dean, Beth ; Welch, Stanton ; Barr, Margaret ; Antill, John ; Wakooka; Location:; National Library of Australia; MS 437
nla.cat-vn2655031

Papers of Mary Duchesne, 1947-1994 (Manuscript): 2 boxes; This collection reflects Mary Duchesne's career with the Borovansky Ballet, the Australian Ballet, Sydney Dance Company and London Festival Ballet. It includes photographs of Duchesne and her colleagues, press cuttings, scrapbooks, correspondence, artistic reports, contracts and programs dating back to Duchesne's student days in the 1940s when she performed as Mary Doak. The collection also contains an unpublished manuscript, The life and times of Mary Duchesne with Festival Ballet 1954-1959. One scrapbook is devoted entirely to the Rex Reid production of John Antill's Corroboree in which Duchesne appeared.; Borovansky Ballet ; Duchesne, Mary ; Australian Ballet, The ; Sydney Dance Company; Location:; National Library of Australia; MS 9023
nla.cat-vn1306982

Papers of Rex Reid, 1949-? (Manuscript): This collection relates to Rex Reid's career as a dancer, choreographer and director. It includes a significant component of material, including newspaper clippings and photographs, relating to Reid's 1950 production of Corroboree, a ballet created to the score by John Antill and performed by the National Theatre Ballet.; Reid, Rex ; Antill, John ; National Theatre Ballet; Location:; Cataloguing in process; National Library of Australia; nla.cat-vn1070680

Papers of Victor Carell and Beth Dean, 1937-1990 (Manuscript): This extensive collection covers the breadth of Beth Dean's and Victor Carell's careers, from their performance life in America, their research trips throughout the Pacific, and their involvement in various cultural organisations and festivals, performances, and to their writings. Items in the collection include correspondence, cast lists, scripts, costume designs, photographs, and films. Many of these items relate to various festivals, including the South Pacific Festival, Festival of Pacific Arts, Cook Bicentenary, and the Pageant of Nationhood. The collection contains correspondence between Carell, Dean and various cultural organisations, including Fiji National Trust, Arts Council of Australia, Ballet of the South Pacific, Cook Islands National Arts Theatre, Macleay Museum, Wolanski Foundation, Levuka Centre, Art Gallery of NSW, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australian Performing Rights Association. Individual correspondents include Robert Helpmann, John Butler, Marie Rambert, Dorothy Helmrich, Doris Fitton, and John Antill. Items relating to Dean's productions, including Corroboree, Kukaitcha and G?Day Digger, form a significant component of the collection. For further details see Papers of Beth Dean and Victor Carell.; Dean, Beth ; Antill, John ; Helpmann, Robert ; Rambert, Marie; Location:; State Library of NSW; MLMSS 963/92

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