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Reader Reviews | |
Review by Fiona Baile (310112) Rating (8/10) Review
by Fiona Baile As a teenager she studied at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music until she was taken to see Madam Gertrud Bodenwieser’s group of dancers. As soon as she saw them performing, she knew that this was what she wanted to do and managed to be accepted first as a student and later as a dancer with the group. They toured around Australia and then New Zealand, and the various places they stayed and adventures experienced are described in a very matter of fact way. Her awareness of the spiritual aspect of aboriginal places and respect for these sacred areas is way ahead of her time bearing in mind that these tours took place in the forties and fifties. Her sensitivity to the spirit of the place is also apparent at a later point in India. When touring in South Africa, they arrived at the theatre and discovered that their costumes were lost somewhere in transit. Eileen with the help of a couple of Wardrobe staff, created the costumes for the evening’s performance. She made clothes for herself and friends, mostly without the help of a pattern, cutting out the fabric and stitching with or without a machine. She was always creating:in India she painted panels to decorate the bare walls of the hotel where she was staying, so that the guest would have something to look at while sitting around. Later she created and painted masks for a drama of her own devising. From India, where she had separated from the Bodenwieser group and become independent, she went to London and then to Paris. Eventually she left to live in New York and after some time moved on to West Virginia where she became involved in the Trillium Performing Arts Collective. At
the age of 97 she continues to dance, choreograph and create.
This book is inspirational for anyone who thinks that age is catching
up with them. |
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