Leftovers on eBay
June 2023
Nab a notecard, grab a greeting card! Forgive a quick promo for my exhibition remainder stock, now listed on eBay.
‘Hoofing It!’ at Castlemaine Library
February 2023
Load up the Powerpoint and on with the show! It was great to speak at the Castlemaine Library about dance at Astley’s Amphitheatre.
“Barrygate!”
November 2021
Three bad brothers, three nicknames and a spoiler: “no spoilers contained herein.”
Synopsis – ‘The Audition’
October 2021
Five people are brought together under the watchful eye of the Supervisor. Who are they? What are they competing for? And what will happen to the candidate who passes The Audition … ?
Sausages for Breakfast: Marie-Louise Desmatins in Hell
August 2021
Scandal, fabric craft, a horror film and a tasty spot of liposuction. It turns out one obscure 17th-century opera dancer is really not like another…
Synopsis – Regency Fair
July 2021
What happens when you commit to a career researching ballet, but you’re also bored, irked and fed up to the back teeth with ballet’s endless literary adaptions and rehashes of the classics? Simple. You write your own bloody ballets. Here’s one of mine.
New Miniature of Giovanna Baccelli Identified!
January 2021
We have a fresh discovery to mark the beginning of 2021. Is it a bird, is it a bacchante? Yes, yes! It’s Giovanna Baccelli!
“Home and Rest”: A Ballet Lover’s Guide to Monte Carlo
For over a century, Monte Carlo has been a haven for some of the world’s greatest dancers. Join me on a time-tripping escape from lockdown to the fabled seaside playground where the Ballets Russes made its home.
Now on YouTube: ‘Turbans, Tulle and Taglioni’s Influence on Fashion, 1830-45’
Couldn’t make it to the Ballerina symposium in March? Don’t be disappointed: New York’s Museum at FIT has kindly made all the presentations available on YouTube. Tagliomanes and fashionistas, this way please…
Ballerina: Fashion’s Modern Muse – Symposium
FORTHCOMING: 6 March 2020
Come along to New York’s Museum at FIT, where I’ll be joining other speakers for a revealing symposium to be held in conjunction with the exhibition, Ballerina: Fashion’s Modern Muse.
Libertine Intrigues: Cliché-Busting the Opera Girl
December 2019
My recently published article in the Dance Research journal probably isn’t on your Summer 2020 reading list. But it’s a rip-roaring read of sex, scandal and, ah, concentrated academic scholarship …
Discovering and rediscovering Anne Elder
Not every dancer has the chance to be the subject of a dedicated biography, but every biography for a dancer is a contribution to our records for the future. This post salutes Anne Elder, one time dancer and accomplished Australian poet, whose memories of the Borovansky Ballet have been quietly published in a new biography.
Save the date for “Hoofing It!”
15 June 2019
Cheer up a wintry Saturday this June. Come along to the Melbourne Arts Centre where I’ll be speaking on ballet at Astley’s Circus. There’ll be dancing on stage and on horseback – historically speaking, of course!
Madame Rose Parisot, ‘Attitudinarian’
May 2019
This month let’s get reacquainted with the wonderfully angular Madame Rose Parisot, who raised hemlines and eyebrows with her performances in London in the 1790s.
The Simonet Experiment
It began as an experiment. The idea was to create activity sheets for dance students that would bring ballet’s history to life. Adelaide Simonet stepped up to be the prototype, and here she is, FREE to download and ready for feedback!