Bodenwieser Ballet. (1939-1959)

NLA Persistent Identifier
http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-676087

Biographies

The Bodenwieser Ballet, also known by various other, similar names including the Bodenwieser Viennese Ballet, was the first truly influential modern dance company in Australia. The Australian company was a development of Tanzgruppe Bodenwieser, which Gertrud Bodenwieser had formed in Vienna in the 1920s as a vehicle for her choreography. The Australian group at first consisted of dancers who had worked with Bodenwieser in Vienna, most of whom had come to Australia not originally with Bodenwieser but as a 'specialty act' in two 1939 J. C. Williamson revues - London Casino Revue: Folies d'Amour and Around the Clock. The dancers who appeared in these revues included Evelyn (Irma) Ippen, Bettina Vernon, Emmy Taussig, Melitta Melzer and Katja Georgieva. They performed similar items in both of the two revues. Those items included 'The Machine', a version of Demon Machine, in a segment called 'Metal Age', a 'Peasant Number' and 'Waltz Fantasy' in a segment called 'Vienna'.

Later, Australians trained by Bodenwieser in Australia joined the group. Dancers like Anita Ardell, Keith Bain, Margaret Chapple, Coralie Hinkley and others not only established their early professional careers with the Bodenwieser Ballet but went on to make major contributions to Australian dance after they had left the company.

The Bodenwieser Ballet performed in many, diverse venues and situations in Australia. It gave shows to pearl divers in Broome and miners in Kalgoorlie, Coolgardie and Broken Hill. The company went on tour to country towns in New South Wales, and danced in Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and the Northern Territory. As part of the civilian contribution during World War II, the Bodenwieser Ballet performed for a wide variety of charities including the Red Cross, the New South Wales Ambulance Fund, the Red Army and the Czechoslovakian Fighting Forces in France. The Bodenwieser Ballet also pioneered lunchtime concerts in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide where it staged 40 minute programs catering to workers in nearby offices and shops. The Australian company also toured to New Zealand and to South Africa in 1950 and India in 1952.

The Bodenwieser Ballet did not endure after Bodenwieser's death in 1959 although her legacy continues through her Australian dancers who set up schools across Australia to teach her particular style of expressive dancing.

Further information about the Bodenwieser Ballet in Australia, with online resources including a brief film clip of Coralie Hinkley performing in Bodenwieser's Central Australian Suite, is contained in the National Library of Australia's exhibition Dance people dance. See 'The search for identity' and explore the 'More' links.

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  1. Bodenwieser, Gertrud (1890-1959)
    ... called the Bodenwieser Ballet and the Bodenwieser Viennese Ballet. From 1940 ...
    This resource is likely to be relevant to your query (score: 0.157)

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  2. Cramer, Eileen (1914-)
    ... Bodenwieser studio having been inspired by a Bodenwieser Ballet performance of ...
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    This resource may be of limited relevance to your query (score: 0.002)

  3. Bain, Keith
    ... the Bodenwieser Ballet in Australia during the last six years of ...
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  1. Ballets Russes Australian tours (1936 - 1940)
    Ballets Russes Australian tours (1936 - 1940)
    Created by NLAdance, 75 items.

    A number of Ballets Russes companies were formed in the wake of the dissolution of Serge Diaghilev's Ballet Russe following his death in 1929. Between 1936 and 1940 three of these companies visited...

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  2. The Blue Danube (1940 - )
    The Blue Danube (1940 - )
    Created by NLAdance, 6 items.

    Choreographed by Gertrud Bodenwieser to Johann Strauss' waltz, The Blue Danube featured consistently in programs of the Bodenwieser Ballet, both within Australia and on international tours...

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  3. Waltzing Matilda (1954 - )
    Waltzing Matilda (1954 - )
    Created by NLAdance, 8 items.

    In 1954 Gertrud Bodenwieser created a three act dance work called Waltzing Matilda for her company, which at that stage was known as the Bodenwieser Modern Expressive Ballet. The Bodenwies...

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  1. Website: Australia dancing
    www.australiadancing.org
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  2. Website: National Library of Australia news
    www.nla.gov.au
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  3. Website: State Library of New South Wales [website]
    image.sl.nsw.gov.au
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  1. [The Demon machine : collection of material related to the ballet The demon machine]
    Bodenwieser, Gertrud, 1890-1959
    [ Book : 1984 ]
    At National Library
    This resource may be of limited relevance to your query (score: 0.129)

    This resource may be of limited relevance to your query (score: 0.129)

  2. Walkabout dancer / by Eileen Kramer
    Cramer, Eileen, 1914-
    [ Book : 2008 ]
    At 2 libraries
    Walkabout dancer / by Eileen Kramer
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  1. Interview with Anita Ardell, dancer/teacher / interviewer, Michelle Potter
    Ardell, Anita, 1934-
    [ Sound : 2001 ]
    At National Library
    This resource may only be vaguely related to your query: matching terms may only have been found in the full text contents of the resource (score: 0.041)

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  2. Hanny Exiner interviewed by Michelle Potter
    Exiner, Johanna, 1918-2006
    [ Sound : 1994 ]
    View online
    At National Library
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  3. Interview with Colin Peasley, ballet dancer and choreographer, foundation member of the Australian Ballet / interviewer, Bill Stephens
    Peasley, Colin, 1934-
    [ Sound : 2000 ]
    At National Library
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  4. Interview with Coralie Hinkley, dancer and choreographer / interviewer, Michelle Potter
    Hinkley, Coralie
    [ Sound : 1997-1998 ]
    At National Library
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  1. Papers of Gertrud Bodenwieser
    Bodenwieser, Gertrud, 1890-1959
    [ Unpublished : 1919-1997 ]
    At National Library
    Papers of Gertrud Bodenwieser
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  2. [Ballets Russes Australian tours, 1938-1940 including subsequent ballet development in Australia] [scrapbook held at the National Library of Australia]
    National Library of Australia
    [ Unpublished : 1938-1950 ]
    At National Library
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  3. [Ballets Russes Australian tours, 1938-1940 including subsequent ballet development in Australia [scrapbook held at the National Library of Australia]
    National Library of Australia
    [ Unpublished : 1938-1950 ]
    At National Library
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  1. BODENWIESER BALLET.
    The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954) Saturday 16 March 1940 p 10 Article
    ... BODENWIESER BALLET. The Bodenwieser Ballet will give its final dance recital before leaving on an Australian tour, at the Phillip Park Open-air Theatre (adjoining the William Street Blind Instiute). at 8.15 to-night The performance is under the auspices of the Children's Library Movement. ... 43 words
    This resource is likely to be relevant to your query (score: 2.727)

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  2. BODENWIESER BALLET.
    The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954) Saturday 25 November 1939 p 11 Article
    ... BODENWIESER BALLET. A dance recital will be given by the Bodenwieser Ballet at the Conservatorium next Wednesday, at 8.15 p.m. The ballet will be under the direction of Madam Gertrud Bodenwieser, and the programme will include "The Masks of Lucifer," a dance drama dealing with world ... 66 words
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  3. Bodenwieser Ballet
    The Muswellbrook Chronicle (NSW : 1898 - 1955) Friday 13 March 1953 p 4 Article
    ... I Bodenwieser Ballet The producer for the Children's ren's Theatre, Miss Elsie Dayne, who has ... ranger," is at present touring with the Bodenwieser' Ballet. Miss Dayne recently completed also a ... dancer and has: been associated with Madame Bodenwieser for some time. Miss jDayne is also in charge of ... 100 words
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  1. An Errand into Two Minds: The Music of Gian Carlo Menotti in the Choreography of Martha Graham and Gertrud Bodenwieser
    Vincent, Jordan Beth
    Brolga: An Australian Journal about Dance
    [ Article : 1006-2012 ]
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  2. This beautiful cultural desert [A rich tapestry in the life of an Australian dance pioneer]
    Potter, Michelle
    National Library of Australia News
    [ Article : 1999 ]
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  3. Modern Dance: From A to NZ - a Personal View - Part 1
    DANZ Quarterly: New Zealand Dance
    [ Article : 1006-2012 ]
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  4. Bettina Vernon; Obituary.(Features)
    The Times (London, England)
    [ Article : 1995 ]
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