‘Fifty’ book retraces ADT history

Fifty: Half a century of Australian Dance TheatreFifty: Half a century of Australian Dance Theatre is a new book by Adelaide professor Maggie Tonkin and it is now available to order. The book retraces the journey of this significant Australian dance troupe, from it’s beginning in 1965 when Elizabeth Cameron Dalman founded it to today when the company is preparing to tour nationally with its new show Be Your Self.

 

Considered radical, daring and new, Australian Dance Theatre (ADT) is Australia’s oldest continuously running contemporary dance company. Fifty reveals the very different trajectories it has taken under the successive artistic direction of Dalman, Jonathan Taylor, Lenny Westerdijk and Anthony Steel, Leigh Warren, Meryl Tankard, Bill Pengelly and now Garry Stewart. Each leader has pushed the boundaries of dance performance and explored new manners of movement and collaboration.

 

What has resulted from 50 years of dance creation and presentation is a robust repertoire of groundbreaking works. In Fifty, Tonkin investigates ADT’s fertile history through interviews and archival research. She highlights the company’s most noted works through stunning images.

 

As a lecturer in the English Department at the University of Adelaide, Tonkin was the perfect candidate to write this 184-page book. In addition to proximity to the company, which is based in SA, she has a great familiarity with dance, as she reviews dance shows for the national press.

 

To order Fifty, visit www.wakefieldpress.com.au.