80-year-old Elizabeth Dalman was "born to dance". Now she's exploring the next phase of her career ahead of her induction to dancing's Hall of Fame. One of the most revered and prolific members of the Australian dance community, Dalman has spent the last two weeks researching the potential for a new work in the Io Myers Studio as part of the UNSW Dance Research Residency program in the School of the Arts and Media.
Elizabeth Cameron Dalman was "born to dance". Now the 80 year-old pioneer of Australian modern dance is exploring the next phase of her dance career at UNSW.
One of the most revered and prolific members of the Australian dance community, Dalman has spent the last two weeks researching the potential for a new work in the Io Myers Studio as part of the UNSW Dance Research Residency program in the School of the Arts and Media.
Her focus has been to explore the ways “an older dancer can communicate” with the help of Berlin-based actor and dramaturg Kenneth Spiteri.
“I was born to dance but now my body’s changed, I can’t lift my leg over my shoulder anymore – I’ve always been an expressive dancer but now I need to find new ways of doing that. I’m trying to find a vocabulary of movement that involves more stillness and silence which you experience more as you get older, and depict them as a positive thing,” said Dalman.
The choreographer and dancer founded the Australian Dance Theatre in South Australia in 1965 which, together with the establishment of the Australian Ballet in 1962, confirmed Australia’s position on the international dance stage. In 1995 Dalman was awarded an OAM for her contribution to contemporary dance in Australia and later received a National Dance Award for a Lifetime Achievement in Dance. She is currently the Artistic Director of Mirramu Dance Company and Director of Mirramu Creative Arts Centre which she founded in 2002.
With the goal of helping Dalman push the boundaries of her practice, Spiteri has been teaching the dancer theatre-training techniques to expand the ways she communicates on stage.
“I’m teaching Elizabeth how to improvise and incorporate acting into her performances so that they don’t require so much mobility.”
Speaking at a workshop for UNSW theatre and dance undergraduates and honours students, Dalman explained the importance of continuing to extend their creative practice.
“Keep learning, you are always a student,” the 80 year-old advised before performing a contemporary dance piece followed by an improvised portrayal of an elderly women trying to navigate her way across an icy road.
The dancer says the residency has helped her navigate her own history as well as the challenges of being a senior dancer.
Elizabeth Cameron Dalman - on her property at Lake George (1994) Photo: Andreas Dalman
“I’ve always found it interesting that with actors the more senior they become the greater they are perceived to be in their art form, yet dancers are expected to finish their careers at 35.
“Dance should never be exclusive to young people. It’s a human right and it should be encouraged.”
Surprisingly, Dalman admits she has considered giving up dancing in recent years.
“There’s no hiding the fact that I’m 80 as soon as I walk on the stage, but I can still pull back the spirit of my 25 year-old self. Whenever I think of giving up I remember that it gives people pleasure and that perhaps that’s why I’m here on the planet, to carry the dance through.”
Dalman will be inducted into the Hall of Fame at the 2015 Australian Dance Awards next month.
The UNSW Dance Research Residency in partnership with Critical Path is supported by UNSW’s Creative Practice Lab in the School of the Arts and Media. It provides choreographers with financial support, space, equipment, technology and advice to develop research projects.