Australia Dancing - Asker, Don (1947

Asker, Don (1947 - )

Gould, Ross: Don Asker (centre) with dancers of Human Veins Dance Theatre, 1987

Melbourne-born Don Asker deferred tertiary studies in science to study dance. He was accepted into the Australian Ballet School in 1966 and subsequently danced with the Australian Ballet from 1969 to 1972. In 1973 he continued his career as a dancer and choreographer in Europe and the United Kingdom working with London Festival Ballet, Netherlands Dance Theatre, where he was house choreographer, and a variety of European fringe companies. He returned to Australia in the late 1970s and was creative fellow in residence at the Australian National University during 1980 where he produced his first full-length work for Human Veins, The Year of the Monkey.

Don Asker was responsible for establishing Canberra's first professional dance company, Human Veins Dance Theatre, a name derived from a Dutch expression meaning 'human temperament' or 'lifeblood'. Asker directed Human Veins in Canberra from 1980 until 1988 when he resigned to take up a Churchill Fellowship to study the effects of technological change on dance in Asia and Europe. During his time in Canberra Asker created many works himself and commissioned a variety of other choreographers including Tony Strachan, Julie-Anne Long, John Utans, Garry Lester, Graeme Watson and Kai Tai Chan.

On his return to Australia, Asker was appointed to the faculty of dance, Victorian College of the Arts where he lectures in modern dance.

For more Asker's involvement with Human Veins Dance Theatre see Life-blood: Don Asker and the Human Veins Dance Theatre, National Library of Australia News, March 2002.

Bibliography:

A list of Asker's choreography for Human Veins can be found in The Ausdance Guide to Australian Dance Companies (Canberra: AGPS, 1994) pp. 258-263.

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Articles - New York Public Library Dance Collection
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