Australia Dancing - Dyson, Julie (1944

Dyson, Julie (1944 - )

Gianotis, Julie: Portrait of Julie Dyson, 2009

Julie Dyson has worked with the Australian Dance Council - Ausdance since it was founded as the Australian Association for Dance Education, or AADE, in 1977. She was a volunteer for eight years, and then from 1985 became one of its two national co-ordinators, with Hilary Trotter. She is currently national director of the organisation, and over the years has assisted it through many periods of growth. Her experience includes development of Ausdance policy for dance, advice to funding bodies, government departments, companies and individual artists, and strategic planning for large-scale national projects and partnerships.

Born in Perth to first-generation French and Irish parents, Dyson studied ballet from an early age, first in Sydney and later in Perth with Joan Stacey and Sandra Wise. Her first job was with the ABC in Perth, in the Schools Broadcasts Department, and she also began teaching ballet during this period. After moving to Canberra in 1967, she taught ballet for nine years with the Bryan Lawrence School of Ballet, where Janet Karin was an important influence. She was simultaneously a member of the Parliamentary Reporting Staff (Hansard) between 1967 and 1984, where her interest in politics was generated.

Under Dyson's leadership, Ausdance has initiated innovative partnerships with organisations outside the dance community to promote and support contemporary dance and professional dancers and teachers. These include the establishment of the Keep Dancing! project, the forerunner to Australia Dancing; a partnership with the Australian Sports Commission (ASC), which eventually led to the establishment of the SCOPE career development program for dancers; the commissioning and publication of three Safe Dance research reports (with Hilary Trotter, who invented the term 'Safe Dance' in 1990); the Australian Guidelines for Dance Teachers (1998); the Australian Dance Summits (2001); the establishment of the Ausdance insurance scheme for the dance industry with Aon Risk Services and, in partnership with the Dance Board of the Australia Council, the publication of Dance Plan 2012, an action plan for Australian dance (2008). The national Indigenous dance program, Treading the Pathways, is also managed and supported by Ausdance National.

A further feature of Dyson's directorship has been her close work with political decision makers in Canberra. In 2006 she organised Australia-wide petitions to both Houses of Federal Parliament to encourage new investment in the small to medium performing arts sector. She continues to work through the political and education systems to promote Australian dance and its unique place in Australian culture.

Dyson has written for, and edited, Ausdance publications including Dance Forum between 1991 and 2007, and the biannual Asia-Pacific Channels on behalf of the World Dance Alliance - Asia Pacific. She has contributed papers to Brolga ; the 2006 UNESCO Arts Education conference in Lisbon; several World Dance Alliance conferences, and the Biennale de Danse de Lyon in 2008. She is Secretary of the World Dance Alliance - Asia Pacific, and has been a board member of the Council for Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (CHASS), the Australian Ballet School, and co-convenor of arts alliances such as ArtsPeak and the National Advocates for Arts Education.

Dyson was awarded the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Award for Administration in 1996, the Ausdance 21 Award for outstanding service to the organisation in 1998, the Australian Dance Award for Services to Dance in 2000, and the Australian Dance Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2004. She was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 2007.

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