Australia Dancing - Walker, Margaret (1920

Walker, Margaret (1920 - 1996)

Lansac, Regis: Portrait of Margaret Walker, 1982

Margaret Walker, born in Bendigo, Victoria, was first inspired by dance when she went to a Melbourne performance by the visiting Covent Garden Russian Ballet in 1939. The direction of her life changed dramatically as a result of her visit to the theatre. Walker, a pharmacy student at the time, started taking ballet classes with Edouard Borovansky and his wife Xenia. Dance was to occupy Walker's life for the next five decades until her death in 1996.

Walker eventually, however, opted to devote her energies to a dance form that seemed to her more egalitarian than ballet. She became involved with a group of activists in post-war Melbourne whose political beliefs were the driving force behind their art making. Walker joined the peace movement and the Communist Party and Melbourne's New Theatre became the focus of her activities. She became a passionate pioneer of folk and character dance in Australia and in 1967 established Dance Concert a professional performing group that aimed to preserve the dances of Australia and other countries. It was active until 1977. Later, she established the Margaret Walker Folk Dance Centre for the resourcing, teaching and demonstration of folk dance.

Throughout her life she supported the idea that every child should be given an opportunity to dance and consistently championed dance in Aboriginal and multicultural communities. Walker was posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame at the inaugural Australian Dance Awards in 1997.

For more information about Walker's career see 'Every picture tells a story', National Library of Australia News, December 2000.

Research Materials

Other resources

Find more about Walker, Margaret in:

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