Australia Dancing - Armidale Summer Schools (1967

Armidale Summer Schools (1967 - 1976)

Four summer schools, momentous occasions in the development of dance in Australia, were organised by the University of New England and held on its Armidale (New South Wales) campus in 1967, 1969, 1974 and 1976. The first school was strongly oriented towards classical ballet. Its press release stated its aim was ‘to give to those who attend it insights into ballet as an art form and, by so doing, to create an informed public for ballet in Australia’. The second, presented under the title ‘The Development of Dance in the Twentieth Century’, looked at seminal figures and movements after 1900 and analysed modern dance as an art form in its own right as well as for the influence it had on classical ballet. The press release for this school stated: ‘The aim of the school basically is to broaden people’s knowledge of dance in the 20th Century and to introduce modern dance in its varied manifestations’. In both schools of the 1960s there was a strong emphasis on audience development, on giving status and credibility to dance within the wider community, and on international movements in the dance world.

Both the summer schools of the 1960s largely followed a lecture/discussion format with leading roles on both occasions being taken by Peggy van Praagh. In 1967 she lectured on topics such as the history of ballet, the great dance schools of the world, the training of the dancer and the art of the choreographer, and in 1969 on classical ballet of the Diaghilev era, the influence of Diaghilev, interactions between classical and modern dance, and postwar classical ballet. Nevertheless, while the format for the schools of the 1960s was very much an academic one, with a small number of dancers being made available to demonstrate the points made by lecturers, already the mix of disciplines that was to be a feature of the schools of the 1970s was in place.

With the first 1970s summer school the focus changed quite dramatically. In 1974 the school was billed as a choreographic workshop/dance school. Participation in the workshop was by invitation and 12 choreographers were invited including Ian Spink, John Meehan and Jacqui Carroll. The focus was on exploration and experiment and the interchange of ideas between tutors and choreographers. Classes in various dance techniques were given in the morning and participants in the dance school were available for choreographers to work with in afternoon workshop sessions.

By 1976 the 1960s stream had merged with the processes of 1974 and the fourth summer school consisted of a choreographic workshop with tutors from Australia, London and New York and, running parallel but with considerable crossover, a seminar/lecture series on the history of dance, dance aesthetics and dance criticism led by British academic and dance advocate, Peter Brinson. Among the choreographers participating in the workshop in 1976 was Graeme Murphy then freelancing and still to take on the directorship of Sydney Dance Company. His muse and partner, Janet Vernon, was also a participant—one of 30 dancers who worked with the choreographers.

Records show that the 1976 summer school ended with a deficit and the University of New England declined to commit to any further schools.

For more about the Armidale Summer Schools see The Armidale Summer Schools in National Library of Australia News, April 2002.

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