Dance Interest
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To Mrs. Victor Carell (Beth Dean), Northmead, NSW, 13/02/69
Describes characteristics of Aboriginal dance from north Australia, asking for advice on dance notation. Beth Dean was the choreologist and performer who had choreographed the dance for John Antill’s musical ballet, Corroboree. This letter also makes an interesting comment on the influx of tourists and the reaction of the local Aboriginal people to tourism.
(MS3501/1/43/20a)
To F.D. McCarthy, Principal, AIAS, 15/05/69
Gives the rationale for her project funded by the Elizabethan Theatre Trust to film and analyse Aboriginal dance at Groote Eylandt with the choreologist, Elphine Mostert (nee Allen)
(MS3501/1/45/14)
To Beth Dean, c/o Department of Internal Affairs, Rarotonga, Cook Islands, 14/10/69
Shares Alice’s experiences about filming music and dance at Groote Eylandt in 1969, observing some of the changes she had witnessed during her field trips there through the years. Some of the films made as part of the project can be found in the AIATSIS Audiovisual Archive under the titles, 'Music and Dance in Groote Eylandt', 'MOSTERT_VIDEO_01', and 'Groote Eylandt 8.4- Five Brolga Dances.'
(MS3501/1/47/48)
To Darius Thieme, Department of Music, Fisk University, USA 28/09/73
Explains the process Alice used to plan the Groote Eylandt field project in 1969 where she collaborated with a dance notationist and a film crew. In this letter, Alice refers to the films, 'Groote Eylandt 8.4- Five Brolga Dances' and related items held in the AIATSIS Audiovisual Archive. Professor Darius Thieme, ethnomusicologist and music educator,had asked Alice for information about her project that used various forms of documentary notation. Fisk is one of the most distinguished African-American universities in the United States.
(MS3501/1/68/58)