What’s Happening in April 2025 – Workshops, Book Launch and Dance Week

Rolling In Nature Dance Film Workshop
12 – 15 April 2025 at Mirramu Creative Arts Centre with Grace Peng

Grace Peng is the Artistic Director of the Dancecology Dance Company and Co-Founder of Dancescreen Collective Taiwan and William Lü, dance filmmaker and co-founder of Dancescreen Collective Taiwan.

Pricing options:

  • $500/$450 full 4 days workshops
  • $300/$275 first 2 days (focus is developing movement in nature for film) 
  • Accommodation and fully catered options available at extra cost.

Designed for serious learners from collegiate to professional levels, this program offers you the opportunity to learn from practising artists in the field while exploring the great natural environment surrounding Mirramu Creative Arts Centre!

This intensive workshop covers every aspect of dance filmmaking:

  1. Choreography for the Camera
  2. Storyboarding
  3. Production Techniques
  4. Post-Production

Bookings: https://events.humanitix.com/rolling-in-nature-dance-film-workshop


Photo: Chen Yi-shu

Book launch of Nature Moves – A Dance Practice in and of Nature by Elizabeth Cameron Dalman

Sunday 27 April at 2pm at Green Square and The Book Cow Kingston

Dr Cathy Adamek, Director of Ausdance ACT will launch the book, with a short dance performance by Vivienne Rogis and Peng Hsiao-yin (Grace).

Signed books will be for sale at $39.95 from The Book Cow Kingston.

Light refreshments will be served. All welcome.

Elizabeth Cameron Dalman founded Australian Dance Theatre (ADT) in 1965 and was Artistic Director for 10 years. These early years cemented her reputation as a revolutionary choreographer, earning her the title ‘Rebel of the Dance’.

In the decades since, she has continued to create innovative site-specific works, notably in the past three decades at Mirramu, the arts centre she founded on the shores of Weereewa/Lake George near Bungendore NSW.

Nature Moves documents Elizabeth’s philosophy about creating dance works in and of nature and presents in text and images many of her significant choreographies. The book is a detailed but approachable account of some of Elizabeth’s life-long work in dance, which also contributes substantially to our national dance history.


Ausdance ACT events

Contact Improvisation Workshop with Debora di Centa
Mirramu Creative Arts Centre, Sunday 4 May 2025 from 1.30pm to 4.30pm

Photo: Ian Ferguson

An afternoon filled with exploration, creativity, and joy. Whether you’re a seasoned dancer or just starting out, this event is open to all levels.


Schools Workshop – Self-Portrait of Dance Film

Photo: Dancecology

Monday 5th May – 10.30am to 12.30pm with Peng Hsiao-yin (Grace) from Dancecology, Taiwan at Gorman Arts Centre Main Hall

Suitable for students aged 12-18 years and their teachers.

In this workshop, participants will learn how to film an original and creative self-portrait video in the form of a dance film drawing on the power of body language and cinematic skills to express yourself. Through the creative process, Peng Hsiao-yin, will guide the participants to design or choreograph movements and gesture to express themselves, and film the choreography with professional filming techniques.

This workshop will provide a great way to get your students engaged in dance film making ahead of Youth Dance Festival. Dance film can also be incorporated as multimedia into your live performance. Dance films can be submitted as a separate or additional YDF entry.

Students will need to use their own mobile phone in the workshop.

Tickets – the workshop fee is subsidised by Ausdance ACT at $25 per student with accompanying teacher for free.

Bookings: https://events.humanitix.com/ausdance-act-dance-film-workshop-for-schools

Prelude 2025

A two day workshop retreat designed to awaken your creative practice through mindfulness and play.

Dates

Sunday/Monday 9/10th March
Sunday 9am – 6pm 
Monday 9-3pm.

You will experience workshops from visual artist Gabby Willmott, writer/teacher John Irving and movement artists Viv Rogis & Elizabeth Cameron Dalman.

Suitable for everyone.

Cost: Workshops only

  • One day (Sunday only) $150 
  • Full 2 days $220
  • Includes lunch, morning & afternoon tea

Cost: Workshops plus accommodation & fully catered

  • Workshops 2 days, plus 1 night accommodation in a shared room. $375
  • Workshops 2 days plus 2 nights accommodation in a shared room. $470
  • BOOKINGS ESSENTIAL: Follow this link https://events.humanitix.com/prelude

About the Artists and their workshops

Dr Elizabeth Cameron Dalman is a pioneer of modern dance in Australia. Her practice continues to create vibrant and powerful dance with a unique Australian perspective. This is an anniversary year marking 60 years since she founded Australian Dance Theatre.

Elizabeth founded Mirramu Creative Arts Centre in 1989 and then Mirramu Dance Company in 2000. Throughout her creative life nature has been central to her work and she will share some processes for drawing inspiration from the landscape around us over the weekend. 

Viv Rogis is a pilates and movement practitioner with 30 years experience. She believes in the power of movement as medicine for the body and mind. She is interested in movement as art, as fun, as medicine, as community.

Her practice incudes performance, choreography, teaching, curating, researching, & writing about dance. Most recently she has been focused on pilates to help people reach their movement goals including pain reduction, prehab and rehab, as well as strength and capacity building for athletes and dancers. She has recently returned to Canberra from Melbourne to take up the role of Assistant Director at Mirramu Creative Arts Centre. 

The Workshops – Viv

With Viv you will start from the breath as the first movement of the body and then explore pandiculation as a reflexive release, progressing to simple movement patterns to release tension in the body and wake up our mind-body connection. This will be a very gentle experience suitable for all body/minds. 

John has worked as a teacher /writer for many years. He has been a writer in residence for The City of Melbourne and The City of Hawthorn, where amongst other projects, he co-ordinated La Mamma Poetica with Mal Morgan, and initiated Hawthorn Readings.

He has had work published in numerous magazines and newspapers as well as three books; Moonstricken, Menhir Press, Poetry; In Our Time, M.C.C., Oral History; Nowhere Man, Bystander Press, fiction; He is presently finalising a novel, ‘That’s How It Is…..SEE’

The Workshops – John Irving

That’s How It Is…..SEE

John invites you to come on a meditative journey to try to bring to light all the lost stories we have hidden in our own imaginations. All you need is a pen, a notebook and an open mind.

Gabby Willmott is a gentle, supportive, and encouraging teacher who facilitates a nurturing, inclusive environment for people to explore, express and reflect. In Gabby’s art classes, participants learn mindfulness and meditation techniques and playful, explorative, intuitive, and expressive artmaking techniques. No prior art, meditation, or mindfulness experience is necessary.

The Workshops – Gabby Willmott

Marking Movement

If your movement or dance was a drawing what would it look like? How do you move in a way to create lines on paper that express how you think or feel? 

In this workshop we will use simple drawing, meditation, and movement techniques to express ourselves on big paper sheets!

About Accommodation – space for 8 people only is available

All accommodation at Mirramu is in shared rooms with 3-4 people in a room depending on numbers. You will need to bring a towel but sheets and bedding are provided. There are two bathrooms that are also shared

About Catering

This event is fully catered with simple healthy food. If you have favourite snacks please feel free to bring them for your own consumption. We will ask everyone to fill out a registration form by Wednesday 5th March which will include dietary requirements.

Financial Hardship/Abundance – We have tried to keep the costs as low as possible for this retreat and so the current price is our concession price. 

If you are experiencing financial hardship but would still like to come to the workshops please contact Viv via email: viviennerogis@gmail.com or phone 0417663778  to discuss our skills exchange program. 

If you are in a position of financial abundance we would welcome a donation to the event to help cover the costs of artists and venue.

Celebrating the Summer Solstice 2024

The oppressive heat of earlier in the day gave way to a cool and breezy afternoon and evening as friends of Mirramu gathered to celebrate the Solstice on 21 December.

The event began with botanical artist Sharon Field speaking about her artistic response to climate change: 3000 Days and Counting. She has been recording flora every day in the countdown to 2030 – the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) shows that we need to keep the global temperature below a 1.5 degree Celsius rise by 2030. She showed the audience her 2nd scroll. She is now working on scroll 4.

Find out more at https://sharonfieldartist.com.au/3000-days-and-counting/

Then Elizabeth previewed her book Nature Moves – A Dance Pratice in and of Nature, speaking about its origins and content and showing some of the many photographs which support the work. Pre-orders were taken. The book will be available mid-February.

This is the second Dalman Productions book, the first being out of silence – a collection of  the late Jan Dalman’s photographs of Marcel Marceau with accompanying text in English and French.

Find out more at https://www.dalmanproductions.com.au/about/

After a delicious supper provided by Bernadette (to whom thanks as always), there were two performances from Lake Song: the first a solo entitled The Eagle, performed by Charmaine Hallam and the second a group piece by members of The GOLD Dance Company.

Find out more at: https://canberradancetheatre.org/golds/

The traditional circle dancing led by Elizabeth, and dedication to the earth and loved ones concluded the evening.

Celebrating 35 years of Mirramu Creative Arts Centre

Saturday 6 April 2024, 2pm to 6pm

Elizabeth Cameron Dalman dancing on the rim of the dam in 'SO, a Search for Sophia' at Mirramu
Andreas Dalman photographer

Friends of Mirramu are invited to a celebration of 35 years of Mirramu Creative Arts Centre.

Performances in the grounds and studio by:

  • Mirramu Dance Company
  • Dancecology
  • Ku and Dancers
  • Australian Dance Party
  • The GOLDs
  • Somebody’s Aunt
  • Liz Lea and The Chamaeleon Collective
  • Colin Offord and Yilan Yeh
  • Mohona
  • Shortis and Simpson
Continue reading

2023 Summer Solstice celebrated at Mirramu

Gallery

This gallery contains 41 photos.

Friends of Mirramu gathered on Thursday 21 December 2023 to celebrate the summer solstice. Peng Hsiao-yin (Grace) from Dancecology Taiwan is visiting Mirramu over Christmas and she was one of the performers to delight audience on the night. There were … Continue reading

Sunset Soirées return to Terroux in 2023 – In the Embrace of the Brindabellas

  • Featuring Dancecology and Ku and Dancers from Taiwan
  • Saturday 18 March 2023, 4.30pm to 6.30pm

Join two internationally renowned contemporary dance companies from Taiwan, Dancecology  – dance in nature – and Ku and Dancers – improvisation  – as they take you meandering around some of Terroux’s ‘garden rooms’.

Continue reading

Mirramu 30

30 year invite graphic smallElizabeth is celebrating 30 years at Mirramu with a party for friends and associates over the weekend of 26 to 28 April 2019.

The weekend’s festivities will include a welcome to Country by Ngambri Elder Shane Mortimer and a tree planting ceremony – 30 trees, one for each year at Mirramu. In the birthday activities Elizabeth will focus on the beautiful environment and its worldwide fragility and on the many artistic and wholistic responses to Lake Weereewa that her time there has brought. 

If you are interested in sharing this joyous occasion at any time over the weekend and have an association with Mirramu please contact Elizabeth by email at elizabeth.mirramu@gmail.com

Adelaide exhibition and book launch – out of silence: Marcel Marceau by Jan Dalman

out-of-silence-ISBN-978-0-6482570-0-4-Cover

Andreas Dalman and Elizabeth Cameron Dalman OAM invite you to the Adelaide launch of

out of silence

Marcel Marceau by Jan Dalman

Book Launch and conversation
Gallery 1, the Quartet Bar
Adelaide Festival Centre
Thursday 10 January 2019 at 5.30pm
Drinks will be served on arrival
Sales and signings at the conclusion of the event

published by Dalman Productions
proudly printed in Australia by CanPrint Communications
ISBN-13: 978-0-6482570-0-4.

In the final years of his life, Jan Dalman carefully selected what he felt were the most potent, evocative and expressive photographs he’d taken of Marceau from the wings during performances in Australia. His great wish was to have a book published to honour his friend Marcel, who had passed away before him in 2007.

out of silence – Marcel Marceau by Jan Dalman is the realisation of this dream.

the photographic exhibition runs from 11 January – 24 February 2019.

Adelaide Festival Centre - map real

 

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Adelaide Festival Centre - BW logo

 

Canberra Musueum And Gallery - logo

Dalman Productions gratefully acknowledges the support of the Adelaide Festival Centre and the ACT Government through Canberra Museum and Gallery