Ceremonial dancing has a very important place in the Indigenous cultures of Australia. Ceremonies vary from place to place, but most combine dance, song, rituals and often elaborate body decorations and costumes. The different body paintings indicate the type of ceremony being performed.

Bangarra Dance Theatre

Founded in 1989, Bangarra is Australia’s premier dance company bringing Australia’s First Nations stories to a broader audience. Praying Mantis Dreaming, written in 1992, was its first full-length work, created by Nunukul Munaldjali man, Stephen Page, who also served as the company’s artistic director. Praying Mantis Dreaming told the story of a young girl who travels from her country to the city, guided by the Praying Mantis Spirit. Stephen Page and his brothers, Russell and David, were core members of the Bangarra Dance Theatre.

While homegrown theatre and performance flourished, Australian performance companies began to bring overseas artists to our shores to perform. Between 1936 and 1940, three ballet companies - formed out of the famous Russian ballet troupe the Ballets Russes - toured Australia. These tours, organised by J.C. Williamson Ltd, had an enormous impact on the history of dance in Australia. Some of the dancers stayed on in Australia, including Hélène Kirsova and Edouard Borovansky, both of whom established their own ballet companies.

Coming to Australia with the Ballets Russes, Irina Baronova (1919–2008) was one of the youngest members of the ballet corps when it toured Australia in 1938–1939. Giving an oral history interview, which was recorded by the National Library of Australia and can be listened to, Baronova recalled what she remembered most: ‘The reception we were getting and the amount of people that came on the pier to see us off, people from the audience ... That was so touching … we never experienced [this] anywhere else.’