Australia Dancing - Harding-Irmer, Patrick (1945

Harding-Irmer, Patrick (1945 - )

Vining Brown, Leone: Patrick Harding-Irmer and Jacqui Carroll in Christine Koltai's 'Asylum', Ballet Australia , 1972

Patrick Harding-Irmer began his dance training in 1969 with Keith Bain at the Bodenwieser studios. He graduated from Sydney University with a BA in 1970, majoring in philosophy and German, and a DipEd in 1971. Following his graduation he left Australia to study dance in London, joining London Contemporary Dance Theatre in 1973. Over the following seventeen years he danced, taught, choreographed and toured with the company. In 1985 he graduated with BA (Hons) in contemporary dance from the University of Kent.

Returning to Sydney in the 1990s Harding-Irmer taught, performed and choreographed on a freelance basis. He has worked with a variety of companies including Canberra Dance Theatre, Dance North, the One Extra Company and Sydney Dance Company. He has also worked on many independent projects with choreographers who have included Elizabeth Cameron Dalman and Chrissie Koltai.

In 1998-1999 he performed in Norman Hall’s production Site, as part of an Australian Choreographic Centre fellowship. The production was conceived and directed by Norman Hall, with choreography and performances by Harding-Irmer, Susan Barling, Elizabeth Cameron Dalman and Ross Philip. The set design and associated installation was by Ken Unsworth. Later that same year Harding-Irmer performed in Elizabeth Cameron Dalman’s The Universal Lake, as part of the inaugural Festival of Lake George, later renamed Weereewa – A Festival of Lake George.

In 2001 Harding-Irmer played the role of a waiter in Baz Luhrman’s Moulin Rouge. In 2003 he performed at the Australian Choreographic Centre in Liz Lea’s work Livid Land and in L'Esprit de Nijinski, a solo choreographed by Michael Montgomery for Bondi Ballet.

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