Arnold, Ronne (1938 - )

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Born in Philadelphia, USA, Ronne Arnold studied dance at the Philadelphia Dance Academy, where he attended classes in classical, modern, primitive, and Hindu dancing. He also attended the Philadelphia Musical Academy, from which he gained a B.A. in music, majoring in dance.

Arnold first came to Australia for Garnet Carroll in 1960 to appear in the musical West Side Story. He appeared in musicals and dance productions throughout the 1960s and 1970s and into the 1980s and has taught jazz dance for many schools and organisations since 1961. In 1967 he founded the Australian Contemporary Dance Company, later the Contemporary Dance Company of Australia, and directed and choreographed for this company until 1972. Arnold choreographed a number of works for the company including I've got Rythm, New Blues with Jacqui Carroll, Boy with Umbrella, Feeling Good, and Song of Hagar to music by John Antill.

Arnold's involvement in Indigenous Australian dance has included research into the dances of the Wanam people of Cape York Peninsula culminating in his M.A. thesis A structural analysis of two dance idioms: the Wanam (Cape York Peninsula) and black jazz dance. He was also dance co-ordinator for Bangarra Dance Theatre's tour to Indonesia in 1991.

Since 1986 Arnold has taught in various capacities at National Aboriginal and Islander Skills Development Association (NAISDA), including academic course director. He finished working at NAISDA in 2003.

See also: Bangarra Dance Theatre

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Research Materials

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Other resources

Find more about Arnold, Ronne in:

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