Mount St Benedict College acknowledges and pays respect to the past and present Traditional Custodians and Elders of this nation and the continuation of cultural, spiritual and educational practices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Ancestors have walked this country and we acknowledge their special and unique place in our nation’s historical, cultural and linguistic identity.
Visitors should be aware that this Research Guide may contain images or documentation relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who are deceased.
Founder of NAISDA Dance College and Bangarra Dance Theatre, Carole has made a remarkable contribution to dance development in Australia and for world dance.
In the early 1970s an upsurge of Indigenous cultural pride led to the birth of a unique new dance form in Australia: Contemporary Indigenous Dance.
The new dance form sprang from the collaborations of Indigenous Aboriginal dance creators. Western trained Choreographers and traditional cultural owners, led by Carole Johnson who came together in workshops and performance. This led to workshops for young people keen to learn and perform this new dance fusion.
Abstract- Dreaming Tracks was chosen for the title of this history because of its reference to the journeys and routes taken by the ancestral founders of each of the extended family clans. As they travelled they recorded the events and situations they encountered along the way, which they left in story, painting, song lines and dances for the future survival of their people.
This timeline chronologically lists some of the key dates in the more recent history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Dance and/or with regard to the relationship between dance and reconciliation more generally.
Black is inclusive the... Carole Johnson story revisits the influences and encouragement, which empowered a nation of Indigenous Australian dancers. 28 years later, it was natural for Stephen Page Indigenous Choreographer to design and direct the Indigenous section of the Opening Ceremonies for the 2000 Sydney Olympics. 1999 saw Carole inducted into Australias Dance Hall of Fame and 2003 Carole received Commonwealth Medal for service to community through arts (dance).
Carole Johnson is a legend in the Australian Contemporary Dance history. The African-American Juilliard graduate is the founding director of the National Aboriginal and Islander Skills Development Council (NAISDA) Dance College and founder of the world-famous Bangarra Dance Theatre. In this interview with Dr Tracie O’Keefe DCH, Carole Johnson, choreographer, dancer and dance administrator takes us on a journey from her beginnings in the 1950s where black dancers were not allowed to attend white ballet schools, through to her groundbreaking work in black dance history. Carole was inducted into the Australian Dance Awards Hall of Fame in 1999 and in 2003 was awarded the Australian Government Centenary medal in recognition of the contribution she has made to the Australian Indigenous community.
Elaine Syron & Carole Johnson discuss Aboriginal Dance and First Nations Peoples
Carole Johnson of African American Ancestry, highlighting her ground-breaking work that gifted an invaluable contribution to the Indigenous contemporary dance community and etched a legacy into Australian and American dance history.
The groundbreaking choreography and innovative performances of the Bangarra Dance Theatre has impacted on the sensibilities of audiences around the world and placed it firmly within the canon of great Australian performing arts companies.
Carole Johnson's legacy is incredible. Carole grew up in Philadelphia, USA where she discovered her love for dance. She trained in ballet under Sydney Gibson King and later with British choreographer Antony Tudor. Carole graduated from the Juilliard School in New York in 1963.
Founded by Carole Johnson in 1975 as the Aboriginal/ Islander Skills Development Scheme, this organisation has played a fundamental role in training prominent Indigenous dancers and developing a modern Aboriginal dance style.
Carole Johnson left the Eleo Pomare Dance Company she was touring with, and supported by Jenny Isaacs with funding from the Australian Council for the Arts, started dance classes in Redfern in May 1972. Twice a week, in St Luke's Hall at 118 Regent St.
