Australian Performing Arts

A Rich Blend
of Migrant
Cultures

Australia's contemporary arts are as unique and diverse as the society and continent they come from. They reflect an ancient landscape that is home to the world's oldest continuous cultural traditions and also to a rich mix of migrant cultures.
Since the early 1970s, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists have developed new modes of expression that have brought their art and culture to international attention. The transfer of Dreaming designs from sand paintings to boards and canvases by Pintupi elders in the central desert community of Papunya in 1971 was just one of many artistic initiatives that have created powerful new connections between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.
Acclaimed artists such as Rover Thomas, Emily Kngwarreye and Ken Thaiday have also created contemporary art that remains grounded in the spiritual traditions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. Non-Indigenous artists like Sidney Nolan and Arthur Boyd have imaginatively come to terms with Australia's unique physical and social environment, while immigrant artists such as Olegas Truchanas, Sali Herman and Imants Tillers have brought new perspectives on our natural and urban environments.

Theatre
Australia's performing arts are full of energy, originality and wit. Indigenous companies like Bangarra Dance Theatre and the Aboriginal and Islander Dance Theatre are acclaimed around the world for innovative, contemporary work that draws on a deep well of traditional ceremony and performance.
Energising and complementing these companies is a large group of multi-talented individual artists. Choreographer Stephen Page works both with traditional Aboriginal communities and the Australian Ballet; actor Deborah Mailman has won international acclaim for her stage and film performances; and Christine Anu has incorporated Torres Strait Islander traditions into her music and dance, as well as starring in commercial music theatre productions.

Dance
Australian dance is renowned for its exuberance and range. Major companies such as the Australian Ballet and Sydney Dance Company tour regularly, with a diverse repertoire of Australian and international work. Australian choreographers and dancers such as Lucy Guerin and Gideon Obarzanek produce cutting-edge work that is finding new audiences through seasons at nightclubs and other unconventional venues, and physical theatre companies such as Legs on the Wall can be found performing on the exterior walls of buildings as well as inside them.

Music
Australian music has been greatly enriched by postwar immigration, and covers an astonishing range. Virtuoso guitarist Slava Grigoryan, born in Kazakhstan, explores the Argentinian tango and Brazilian bossa nova, while the Australian Art Orchestra collaborates with master musicians from South India. The Australian Chamber Orchestra has been acclaimed as the best such orchestra in the world and every State capital city has its own professional symphony orchestra. Artists such as violinist Richard Tognetti, pianists Roger Woodward and Geoffrey Tozer and conductor Simone Young are familiar faces in the world's concert halls.
Australia's symphony orchestras have carved out a central role in Australia's cultural history. Other organisations such as Musica Viva promote a wide range of classical and serious contemporary music events. Percy Grainger, Larry Sitsky, Peter Sculthorpe, Richard Meale and Ross Edwards are just some of the Australian composers who have made their mark internationally.

Opera
Opera Australia, the national company, is the third busiest opera company in the world and has as its home the spectacular Sydney Opera House. The legacy of operatic legends such as Dame Nellie Melba and Dame Joan Sutherland has been handed down to stars such as Deborah Riedel, Lisa Gasteen and Yvonne Kenny.

Rock Music
The past few decades have seen the emergence of a completely original style of contemporary Australian rock music. Success stories include Regurgitator, Natalie Imbruglia, silverchair, Kylie Minogue, Savage Garden and The Whitlams.

Literature
Australian literature is one of the most vital branches of contemporary English language writing. Australian writers make a central contribution to the understanding and definition of Australian culture.
Since Patrick White won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1973, Australians have won many international awards, among them novelists Thomas Keneally and Peter Carey (the prestigious Booker Prize) and poet Les Murray (the Petrarch Prize). Helen Garner, David Malouf, Elizabeth Jolley, Archie Weller and Tim Winton are among other Australian prize-winning prose writers.
Leading poets of past and present include A.B. ('Banjo') Paterson, A.D. Hope, Judith Wright, Bruce Dawe and Geoff Page.
Authors of migrant background such as Brian Castro, Fotini Epanomitis and Beth Yahp add an international dimension to Australian literature.
International bestsellers include Morris West, Colleen McCullough and Bryce Courtenay. Tim Winton, Kate Grenville, Janette Turner Hospital and David Malouf are just a few of the other prose writers who have established international reputations over the last 20 years.
Writers like Oodgeroo Noonuccal and Sally Morgan have brought experiences of Aboriginal people into the minds of non-Indigenous Australians.

Cinema
The highest industry accolades, such as Academy Awards and nominations, have been won by Australian films and actors in increasing numbers since the 1940s. More recently, Academy Awards were won by The Piano (1993), Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994), Babe (1995) and Shine (1996).
Film-makers such as Peter Weir and Bruce Beresford, actors such as Geoffrey Rush, Nicole Kidman, Mel Gibson, Judy Davis and Cate Blanchett, and cinematographers such as Dean Semmler, among many others, are now major figures in the global film community.
From the cramped, modest studios used in the 1970s and '80s, Australia now boasts a number of fine studio complexes. American studio films, such as Mission: Impossible II (2000), and the larger Australian productions are now able to use state-of-the-art local facilities.