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NAISDA Dance College

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The NAISDA Dance College (usually referred to as simply NAISDA) 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 dance troupe Aboriginal Islander Dance Theatre (AIDT) arose in 1976 from AISDS, from which several dancers and choreographers went on to form Bangarra Dance Theatre.

History

The Aboriginal/ Islander Skills Development Scheme was founded by African American dancer Carole Johnson in 1975. She had toured Australia, performing in Adelaide and Sydney, in 1972, as part of the Eleo Pomare Dance Company of New York City, and was commissioned by the Australia Council for the Arts to run dance classes for Aboriginal people in Sydney. After a display performance of Indigenous dance at the Black Theatre in 1975 there was a a six-week workshop,[1] the Six Weeks Performing Arts Training Programme, held in Redfern. A performance by Pastor Brady's Yelangi Dance Company and Stephen Mam's Torres Strait Island or Waiben Dancers opened the workshop. Tutors included Johnson (contemporary dance); Eddie Pau and Henry Peters (traditional dance of the Torres Strait Islands and Mornington Island); Brian Syron, with Ann Swan (drama); and others who taught speech, sound and lighting, karate, and writing. [2]

After the workshop, a three-year professional course called "Careers in Dance" was created. Preliminary funding for three months was provided by the Department of Education.[1] The National Aboriginal and Islander Skills Development Association was established in 1975 to train Indigenous Australians in dance. It arose from a collaboration of choreographers trained in Western dance styles and cultural custodians of traditional Aboriginal dance, led by Carole Johnson.[3] Its first intake of students, who started in October 1975, were Lillian Crombie, Wayne Nicol, Michael Leslie, Dorathea Randall, Cheryl Stone and Darryl Williams (who had participated in the workshop), and new students Richard Talonga and Roslyn Watson.[2][4] Torres Strait Islander people were involved from the beginning, owing to strict rules that traditional dances could only be performed if a traditional owner of that dance was present. There was an emphasis on developing a unique style of contemporary Indigenous dancing.[1]

In 1976, Careers in Dance became a subsidiary of the Aboriginal Islander Skills Development Scheme (AISDS), which was established as the National Aboriginal Islander Skills Development Association in 1988, and is now NAISDA Dance College.[2]

The Aboriginal Islander Dance Theatre (AIDT), which arose out of NAISDA in 1976, was the first contemporary Indigenous Australian dance company,[5] and toured nationally and internationally.[6] AIDT remained a part of the NAISDA under the artistic direction from 1989 of Raymond D. Blanco, the first Indigenous person to lead a dance company in Australia, disbanding following the departure of Blanco in 1998. Johnson's company went on to become Bangarra Dance Theatre.[7]

Until 2007, NAISDA was located in the inner Sydney suburbs of Redfern, Glebe and The Rocks, before moving to their present location near Gosford.[3]

As of 2008, NAISDA was funded as an arts education "Centre of Excellence" by the Australian Government and was also supported by the New South Wales Government. It was a registered training organisation offering Certificates II, III and IV and a Diploma in Careers in Dance, and was a member of the Australian Roundtable for Arts Training Excellence.[8]

Description and governance

NAISDA is based in Mount Penang Parklands in Kariong[9] on the Central Coast of New South Wales,[3] on Darkinjung land. Graduates have worked in arts management, dance, music, theatre and film, both at the elite and community level.[10]

As of 2021, NAISDA Ltd is a limited company that runs the Dance College, and is governed by a board which includes Wesley Enoch and Elizabeth Butcher AM and is chaired by Maryah Sonter.[11] The NAISDA Foundation is a separate fund-raising entity, whose patron since its establishment in December 2013 is Dame Marie Bashir AD CVO.[12] It continues to be funded by the Australian and New South Wales Governments.[13]

In film and television

NAISDA was the subject of an ABC Television documentary, From Dreamtime to Dance, narrated by Stan Grant and broadcast in 2002.[14][15][16]

Prominent alumni

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Pollock, Zoe (2008). "National Aboriginal and Islander Skills Development Association". The Dictionary of Sydney. Retrieved 26 August 2022. Text may have been copied from this source, which is available under a Attribution 2.0 Australia (CC BY 2.0 AU) licence.
  2. ^ a b c "NAISDA Dance College - Full record view". Libraries Australia. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  3. ^ a b c "History of NAISDA". NAISDA Dance College. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
  4. ^ Leslie, Michael (December 2016). 2.5: A Journey towards Adolescence and an Aboriginal Dance Method (Master of Fine Arts). University of New South Wales.
  5. ^ National Library of Australia (31 July 2008). "Australia Dancing - Aboriginal Islander Dance Theatre (1976 - )". Archived from the original (text) on 22 July 2008. Retrieved 3 October 2008.
  6. ^ "Aboriginal Islander Dance Theatre [catalogue entry]". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  7. ^ Pollock, Zoe (2008). "Aboriginal and Islander Dance Theatre". The Dictionary of Sydney. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
  8. ^ Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (15 September 2008). "Arts training bodies". Archived from the original on 21 August 2008. Retrieved 3 October 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. ^ "NAISDA Dance College". Ausdance. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  10. ^ "Who We Are". NAISDA Dance College. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
  11. ^ "NAISDA Ltd Board". NAISDA Dance College. 18 August 2021. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
  12. ^ "NAISDA Foundation Patron and Board". NAISDA Dance College. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
  13. ^ NAISDA Dance College (2020). "NAISDA Dance College Annual Report 2020". Retrieved 8 December 2021 – via Issuu.
  14. ^ Castaldi, André (2 July 2002). "Dreamtime to Dance". ABC Television. TV Documentaries. Archived from the original on 31 December 2012.
  15. ^ Kelly, Patricia (2002). "Dreamtime to Dance: Study Guide" (PDF). Australian Screen Education Online (29): 11. ISSN 1443-1629. Retrieved 3 October 2008.
  16. ^ Dreamtime to Dance promo on YouTube
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