Our dance collection contains portraits, manuscripts, oral history interviews, photographs, music scores, personal papers, theatre programs and memorabilia.

Group of dancers with balloons

Dancers on stage during dress rehearsal of Sydney Dance Company's Are we that we are

Photograph by Samuel Cooper at Sydney Theatre,Sydney,2010.
Three ballet dancers

Bodenwieser Ballet performance of Blue Danube Waltz

with Moira Claux, Elaine Vallance, Nina Bascolo and Biruta Apens, 1953.
Girl in red leaping in desert landscape

Leanne Benjamin, outside Alice Springs, Northern Territory, 2006

Photograph by Jason Bell.
Six ballet dancers in costume

Rehearsal for Sid's Waltzing Masquerade

Annabel Knight, Juliette Barton and dancers during dress rehearsal by Aszure Barton, Sydney Dance Company.

The Dance collection includes unique Australian dance resources across a spectrum of dance styles. The collection supports the preservation of dance materials and documents dance in Australia. You can find:

  • Personal papers of dancers, including travel documents and albums
  • Oral history interviews with Australians involved in dance
  • Pictures of dance, including photographs and art works
  • Performances of Australian productions and international touring companies
  • Notated dance scores and associated papers
  • Performance programs, cast sheets, fliers and brochures
  • Sound recordings of folk dance music

Highlights

  • Australian Dance Theatre – research materials relating to Australia’s oldest contemporary dance company
  • The Ballets Russes in Australasia – a large archive of programs, posters and other ephemera relating to the three Australian and New Zealand tours of Col. Wassily de Basil’s famous companies between 1936 and 1940.  Most is digitised  
  • Borovansky Ballet – a range of materials from diverse private and public collections describing the evolution of Australia’s first long-term professional dance company
  • Papers of Gertrud Bodenwieser – a large archive of papers, photographs, designs and programs relating to Australia’s first modern dance company, the Bodenwieser Ballet 
  • Performances – short articles describing the history of individual productions created in Australia, Australian productions of international repertoire, and others presented by overseas touring

The National Library of Australia acknowledges Australia’s First Nations Peoples – the First Australians – as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of this land and gives respect to the Elders – past and present – and through them to all Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Cultural Notification

Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are advised that this website contains a range of material which may be considered culturally sensitive including the records of people who have passed away.

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