herstory
Glen Waverley 1964
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Tribe
The maths teacher predicts how many of us will have children.
Fonteyn and Nureyev inspire us to be artists not breeders.
1991 fishdream Pastel on paper (detail)
1964 Is Nureyev signing my table napkin? Photograph of Lisa and her ballet class with Margot Fonteyn.
A heat wave crosses Australia. It brings strong memories of daily summer school ballet classes at the Victorian Ballet Guild in Bouverie street Melbourne, opposite the Carlton Brewery. Memories of sweating, stretching, and strengthening mind and body in the sweet still air of hops. Last night Ken and I watched Swan Lake together - the Russian version I learned and performed as a teenager. The Russian version is a glorious mix of passion and precision, physics and magic, political fact, and fiction. Our teachers Laurel Martyn, Valerie Grieg, Max Collis and others approached teaching and performing dance as part of truth telling - part of understanding how human nature drives human history. A highlight of that time was meeting Fonteyn and Nureyev. They visited our school to watch our class practice a mix of Russian and English methods, and to share a meal with us afterwards. One of the three studios was set up like a restaurant. Somewhere in all the memorabilia recently retrieved from storage in Tasmania is Nureyev's signature on a paper table napkin.
Sydney
Saturday 6th December 2025
Australia's first topical satirical show, The Mavis Bramstin Show, starring Gordon Chater, Carol Raye and Barry Creyton, produced.
'The Beatles' toured Australia to scenes of hysterical welcome.
Robert Helpman produced his ballet The Display for the Adelaide Festival.
Oil struck in Bass Strait by Esso-B.H.P. after five years of prospecting. The Bass Strait Oil field proved to be Australia's largest.
The Australian Almanac, Pub. Angus & Robertson 1985
