The Australian Ballet (TAB) is the largest classical ballet company in Australia. It was founded by J. C. Williamson Theatres Ltd and the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust in 1962, with the English-born dancer, teacher, repetiteur and director Dame Peggy van Praagh as founding artistic director. Today, it is recognised as one of the world's major international ballet companies and performs upwards of 150 performances a year.
Bangarra Dance Theatre is an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander dance company focused on contemporary dance. It was founded by African American dancer and choreographer Carole Y. Johnson, Gumbaynggirr man Rob Bryant, and South African-born Cheryl Stone. Stephen Page was artistic director from 1991 to 2021, with Frances Rings taking over in 2022.
Stephen George Page is an Australian choreographer, film director and former dancer. He is the former artistic director of the Bangarra Dance Theatre, an Indigenous Australian dance company. Page is descended from the Nunukul people and the Munaldjali of the Yugambeh people from southeast Queensland, Australia.
Frances Rings is an Aboriginal Australian dancer, choreographer and former television presenter. She was born in Adelaide, South Australia, and is a Wirangu and Mirning woman. She became artistic director for Bangarra Dance Theatre in 2023.
Western Australian Mark Howett is a director for theatre, dance, opera and film, having started his career initially as a lighting designer. He studied Theatre Design, specialising in Lighting Design at the School of Drama 1981, Yale University. Since 1979, Mark Howett has worked with many international theatre, film, dance, and opera companies. He was a senior creative on productions such as: Sweeney Todd, Royal Opera at Covent Garden, Cabaret at Savoy Theatre West End, Evita at Dominion Theatre West End, A Country Girl at Apollo Theatre West End, Rites Bangarra and Australian Ballet at Paris Opera House, Cloudstreet Co B Belvoir at Brooklyn Academy of Music, and Secret River Sydney Theatre Co to name a few.
The Arts in Australia refers to the visual arts, literature, performing arts and music in the area of, on the subject of, or by the people of the Commonwealth of Australia and its preceding Indigenous and colonial societies. Indigenous Australian art, music and story telling attaches to a 40–60,000-year heritage and continues to affect the broader arts and culture of Australia. During its early western history, Australia was a collection of British colonies, therefore, its literary, visual and theatrical traditions began with strong links to the broader traditions of English and Irish literature, British art and English and Celtic music. However, the works of Australian artists – including Indigenous as well as Anglo-Celtic and multicultural migrant Australians – has, since 1788, introduced the character of a new continent to the global arts scene – exploring such themes as Aboriginality, Australian landscape, migrant and national identity, distance from other Western nations and proximity to Asia, the complexities of urban living and the "beauty and the terror" of life in the Australian bush.
Theatre of Australia refers to the history of the live performing arts in Australia: performed, written or produced by Australians.
The NAISDA Dance College is a performing arts training college based in Kariong, New South Wales for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia. It was established as the Aboriginal Islander Skills Development Scheme (AISDS) in 1975, which became the National Aboriginal and Islander Skills Development Association (NAISDA) in 1988. The date of establishment of the college is usually cited as 1976, although some sources report it as 1975.
Performing arts education in Australia refers to the teaching of different styles of creative activity that are performed publicly. The performing arts in Australia encompasses many disciplines including music, dance, theatre, musical theatre, circus arts and more. Performing arts education in Australia occurs both formally and informally at all levels of education, including in schools, tertiary institutions and other specialist institutions. There is also a growing body of evidence, from the Australian Council for the Arts and the Parliament of Australia, showing that First Nation's participation in the arts and culture has significant economic, social and cultural benefits to Australia and further supports the outcomes of the Australian governments ‘Closing the Gap’ campaign. There has been an increasing number of scholarships opening up in educational institutions for Indigenous Australians aimed at encouraging this participation in the arts.
The National Black Theatre (NBT) was a theatre company run by a small group of Aboriginal people based in the Sydney suburb of Redfern which operated from 1972 to 1977. The original concept for the theatre grew out of political struggles, especially the land rights demonstrations, which at the time were being organised by the Black Moratorium Committee. The centre held workshops in modern dancing, tribal dancing, writing for theatre, karate and photography, and provided a venue for new Aboriginal drama. It also ran drama classes under Brian Syron, whose students included Jack Davis, Freddie Reynolds, Maureen Watson, Lillian Crombie, and Hyllus Maris.
Black Arm Band is an Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander music theatre organisation.
Aboriginal Islander Dance Theatre (AIDT) was the first dance company used to train Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students on their dancing career, and grew into a performance group. Originating in the National Aboriginal and Islander Skills Development Association, it was based in Sydney, New South Wales, and operated from 1976 to 1998.
The Aboriginal Centre for the Performing Arts (ACPA) is a national Australian institution for the culturally sensitive training of Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander people in the performing arts. Founded in 1997, it has been located in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, since 2017.
Roy David Page, known as Dubboo to his close friends, was an Australian composer who was the music director of the Bangarra Dance Theatre. He was descended from the Nunukul people and the Munaldjali clan of the Yugambeh people of south-east Queensland, and brother of choreographer Stephen Page and dancer Russell Page. He was also an actor, singer and drag artist.
Ilbijerri Theatre Company, formerly Ilbijerri Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Theatre Cooperative and also known simply as Ilbijerri, styled ILBIJERRI, is an Australian theatre company based in Melbourne that creates theatre creatively controlled by Indigenous artists.
Guypunura "Janet" Munyarryun is an Aboriginal dancer, choreographer and tutor. She was a founding member of the Bangarra Dance Theatre.
Elma Gada Kris is an Australian dancer, choreographer and NAIDOC award winner. She is a Torres Strait Islander woman of the Wagadagam, Kaurareg, Sipingur, Gebbara and Kai Dangal Buai peoples, and a member of the Bangarra Dance Theatre.
Ella Havelka is an Australian ballet dancer who is the first Indigenous person to join The Australian Ballet.
Carole Yvonne Johnson is an African American contemporary dancer and choreographer, known for her role in the establishment of the National Aboriginal Islander Skills Development Association (NAISDA), and as co-founder of Bangarra Dance Theatre in Australia. Early in her career she became a lead dancer in the Eleo Pomare Dance Company, and Pomare had a profound influence on her dancing style.
The Aboriginal Dance Theatre Redfern (ADTR) is an Australian non-profit organisation providing cultural and dance programs for Aboriginal Australian, located in the Sydney suburb of Redfern. It was founded in 1979 by Christine Donnelly, who remains executive director as of November 2022.
