Australia Dancing - Cameron, Rachel (1924

Cameron, Rachel (1924 - )

Pearl, S. Alston: Rachel Cameron with Edouard Borovansky in his studio, c. 1940

Rachel Cameron was born in Brisbane but moved to Sydney as a young child. In Sydney her first major teacher was Muriel Sievers and with her Cameron studied the Royal Academy of Dancing (now Dance) syllabus. Cameron danced in early pre-professional seasons of the Borovansky Ballet in Melbourne and, on returning to Sydney, danced with the Kirsova Ballet and taught in Helene Kirsova's school. With the Kirsova Ballet Cameron danced leading roles in Kirsova's own works, including The Revolution of the Umbrellas, Hansel and Gretel, Jeunesse, Harlequin and A Dream ... and a Fairy Tale as well as dancing in Kirsova's stagings of the classics such as Les Sylphides. Back in Melbourne she was principal dancer with the short-lived Australian Ballet Society, a company directed by Phillipe Perrottet. She also joined Ballet Rambert during its Australian tour and performed in Les Sylphides, Giselle and Antony Tudor's The Planets.

Cameron left Australia in the late 1940s to study in England and Europe. She worked with eminent teachers including Olga Preobrajenska and Lubov Egorova in Paris and Vera Volkova and Anna Northcote in London. She danced with several small companies and appeared in the musical Song of Norway. Later she worked with both Lydia Sokolova and Tamara Karsarvina as a demonstrator for their classes and, on Karsarvina's recommendation, taught the teacher training course that Karsarvina developed for the Royal Academy of Dance.

Cameron has been a guest teacher for many companies including Scottish Ballet, Western Theatre Ballet, the Israeli Bat-Dor Dance Company and the Australian Ballet.

Research Materials

Ephemera | Oral history | Picture | All

Other resources

Find more about Cameron, Rachel in:

Internet - Google
Articles - New York Public Library Dance Collection
Pictures - Picture Australia