Australia Dancing - Murray-Will, Ewan (1899

Murray-Will, Ewan (1899 - 1970)

Photographer unknown: Portrait of Dr Ewan Murray-Will, 1930s

Dr Ewan Murray-Will was a Sydney-based dermatologist and amateur film maker. Using a hand-held movie camera and recording on 16 mm film, sometimes in black and white, sometimes in colour, Murray-Will documented excerpts from the repertoire of the Ballets Russes companies who visited Australia between 1936 and 1940. His performance footage was mostly shot from the wings but occasionally from the auditorium. It covers the well known works from the touring repertoire, including Aurora's Wedding, Petrouchka, Les Sylphides and Le Beau Danube, as well as some of the new and quite experimental works, including the symphonic works by Leonide Massine such as Les Presages and Choreartium.

Murray-Will's beach house at Bungan Beach, a short distance north of the city of Sydney, provided a weekend retreat where dancers gathered on Sundays during their Sydney seasons. At Bungan Beach Murray-Will filmed, often in slow motion, the dancers at play on the beach. He also recorded bush picnics and visits to the Blue Mountains.

Murray-Will gathered round him a small coterie of dancers from the visiting companies. He was especially close to Helene Kirsova and a good deal of the footage is of Kirsova in some of her best known roles. He also admired Irina Baronova and she is recorded in many of her roles including those in Choreartium and Aurora's Wedding. Other particular friends from the companies were Paul Petroff, Anna Volkova, Alberto Alonso, Nina Golovina and Tamara Toumanova, all of whom appear in the Bungan Beach footage.

Murray-Will studied medicine at the University of Sydney and later took further studies in Vienna and London. In Sydney he conducted a private practice in Macquarie Street and was honorary dermatologist to a number of Sydney hospitals including Sydney Hospital, St Vincent's Hospital and the Coast Hospital (later Prince Henry Hospital). Murray-Will also served in World War II in the Middle East and later in North Queensland and was awarded an MBE at the conclusion of the War.

A brief clip from the Ewan Murray-Will collection of Ballet Russes films is contained in the National Library of Australia's online exhibition Dance people dance. See 'Artistic impact (Item 4)' and open the 'View film' link.

Bibliography:

'Sydney friends of the Ballets Russes: Dr Ewan Murray-Will' from the website 'Michelle Potter on dancing'.

Research Materials

Other resources

Find more about Murray-Will, Ewan in:

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