Laurel Martyn (; 23 July 1916 – 16 October 2013) was an Australian

ballerina A ballet dancer ( it, ballerina fem.; ''ballerino'' masc.) is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet; however, dancers have a strict hierarchy and strict gender roles. They rely on ye ...

.Obituary
theaustralian.com.au; Retrieved 26 December 2013. In 1933, she left Australia for England and studied with Phyllis Bedells. In 1934 she won a choreographic scholarship from the Association of Operatic Dancing (later the

Royal Academy of Dance "Health and happiness" , predecessor = , successor = , formation = 1920 , extinction = , type = NGO , status = Registered charity , purpose = Examination board – dance education and training , headquarters = 36 Battersea SquareSW11 3 ...

) for ''Exile'', her first composition. In 1935 she became the first Australian to win the Adeline Genée Gold Medal. Martyn joined the Vic-Wells Ballet (later

Sadler's Wells Sadler's Wells Theatre is a performing arts venue in Clerkenwell, London, England located on Rosebery Avenue next to New River Head. The present-day theatre is the sixth on the site since 1683. It consists of two performance spaces: a 1,500-seat ...

) in December 1935, the first Australian woman to be accepted into the company. By 1938, she was a soloist. That same year, she returned to Australia and became a dance teacher. She joined

Edouard Borovansky Edouard Borovansky (24 February 1902 – 18 December 1959) was a Czech-born Australian ballet dancer, choreographer and director. After touring with Anna Pavlova's company, he and his wife, Xenia, settled in Australia where they established th ...

's eponymous ballet corps in 1940 and remained until her marriage to Lloyd Lawton in 1945. she then continued dancing and died at the age of 97 in the 2013

Works

After leaving the Borovansky Ballet in 1945, Martyn began creating her own dance works. These included ''The Sentimental Bloke Who Couldn't Be a Man'' in 1952 and ''Mathinna'' in 1954. These works were inspired by Australian themes. ''The Sentimental Bloke'' used Australian literature for inspiration and ''Mathinna'', concerning an

Aboriginal Tasmanian The Aboriginal Tasmanians (Palawa kani: ''Palawa'' or ''Pakana'') are the Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal people of the List of islands of Australia, Australian island of Tasmania, located south of the mainland. For much of the 20th centu ...

girl adopted into white society, explored the political, social and racial implications of relationships between

Aboriginal Australians Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Isl ...

and colonial settlers.Laurel Martyn (1916-2013) profile
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Later years

She also was instrumental in forming the Young Dancers' Theatre, for which she choreographed several works in the 1980s, and the Classical Dance Teachers Australia Inc, which provided in-service training for dance teachers.

References

External links

Laurel Martyn Collection
at the Australian Performing Arts Collection,

Arts Centre Melbourne Arts Centre Melbourne, originally known as the Victorian Arts Centre and briefly called the Arts Centre, is a performing arts centre consisting of a complex of theatres and concert halls in the Melbourne Arts Precinct, located in the central ...

1916 births 2013 deaths Australian ballerinas Dancers of The Royal Ballet People from Toowoomba Place of death missing Australian Officers of the Order of the British Empire Australian expatriates in the United Kingdom {{entertainer-stub