Australia Dancing - Cullen, Philippa (1950

Cullen, Philippa (1950 - 1975)

Ozolins, Alex: Philippa Cullen with wireloop aerials in 'Homage to Theremin 2', 1972

Born in Melbourne, Philippa Cullen was educated at Queenwood and Loreto Convent, Sydney. At the age of eight she became a pupil at the Bodenwieser Dance Studio. During her dance studies at the Bodenwieser centre, Cullen appeared in works choreographed by Margaret Chapple, Keith Bain and Jacqui Carroll including Bain's Primitive Suite, first performed at Ballet Australia's second workshop performance on 9 August 1964 at Cell Block Theatre, Sydney, and Jacqui Carroll's Entangled, first performed in another of Ballet Australia’s choreographic workshops on 5 October 1969, also at the Cell Block.

One of Cullen's earliest choreographic works, Electronic Aspects, was performed in Ballet Australia’s 1970 choreographic competition. The work was set to music composed by Nicholas Lyons, co-ordinated by Lyons and Sue Butler. It featured nine dancers including Jacqui Carroll, Kay Dunne, Christine Koltai, and Geoffrey Cichero. In 1971 Cullen performed in Kay Dunne's Ballet Australia competition work " ... we bled inside each other's wounds". Cullen's second and final entry to a Ballet Australia choreographic competition was Utter (1972) created for five dancers and with music 'performed, and words spoken and sung by dancers, arranged by the choreographer in collaboration with the writer George Alexander'. Utter received a special mention from the judges.

In 1970 Cullen graduated from Sydney University with a BA degree, majoring in English and Italian with sub-majors in Fine Arts and Medieval History. During her studies at Sydney University, Cullen initiated dance classes and improvisational performances for Sydney University students. This period also saw Cullen come into contact with the theremin, an electronic musical instrument in which tone is generated by two high-frequency oscillators and pitch controlled by the movement of the performer towards and away from the circuit.

Cullen's first performance integrating the theremin, Homage to Theremin II (1972), was a collaboration with composer Greg Schiemer, electrical engineer Phil Connor and architecture student Manuel Nobleza. This work utilised four theremins, each differing in shape and size and each with its own antenna, allowing the dancers to control the music accompanying their movements. Connor, an engineer, designed the theremins and frequency-to-voltage converters that allowed an interface with two VCS-3 voltage-control synthesisers, and architect and sculptor Nobleza designed the antennae.

In May 1972 Cullen applied for an overseas travel grant to explore 'the medium of electronics and its potential for extending dance as an art form'. Cullen's trip took her to Europe, Africa, and India between August 1972 and early 1974. During her travels Cullen spent time at the Instituut voor sonologie (The Institute of Sonology), Utrecht University, The Netherlands, working with composer-in-residence Otto Laske. As a result of their contact Laske produced a graphic score for Cullen, Vitre, after a text by Rene Char, for one or more dancers. Laske composed a score in Labanotation describing gestures and positions as well as vocal and body sounds along a flexible timeline of about 20 minutes.

Returning to Australia in early 1974 Cullen continued her investigation into the possibilities of electronics and dance, presenting a series of seminars over nine days at One Central Street Gallery, Sydney, giving workshops and demonstrations of the findings of her travels. In September 1974 she presented a 24 hour concert, 24-Hour Chess, with Ian Robertson and Aleks Danko at Hogarth Gallery, Sydney. Subsequent performances include the 1975 Computers and Electronics in the Arts exhibition in Canberra. Cullen died unexpectedly while travelling in India in 1975.

In 1976 dancers Jacqui Carroll, Brian Coughran, Helen Herbertson and John Salisbury presented the dance work Body Sonata, which they dedicated to Cullen's memory.

Bibliography:

Philippa Cullen, 'Towards a philosophy of dance', Writings on Dance 4 (Spring 1989), pp. 18-25; Jilba Wallace, 'A life's work: Philippa Cullen 1950-1975', Writings on Dance 4 (Spring 1989), pp. 8-15; George Alexander, 'The hot electron: some notes on the single-dance of Philippa Cullen', Writings on Dance 4 (Spring 1989), pp. 26-31.

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