Teacher Athol Willoughby honoured

The chair of the Australian Dance Awards committee, Robina Beard (OAM), has announced the 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to Athol Willoughby (OAM).

Eighty-five years young, Willoughby has had a long and distinguished career as one of Australia’s leading ballet dancers and teachers, connecting him with significant developments in mid-century Australian ballet, with major figures such as Walter Gore and Valrene Tweedie, and as an adjudicator and examiner for Cecchetti Ballet Australia. He has been honoured in recognition of his exceptional contribution to the dance profession in Australia for over 65 years.
Willoughby, who is still devoted to dance, was both “delighted and overwhelmed” by the award, which he will receive in person on Saturday, September 8, at the official ceremony at the Brisbane
Powerhouse.

The annual event will as always feature a line-up of guest artists to showcase the very talent which is the subject of these awards. This year's guests comprise students from the Aboriginal Centre of Performing Arts performing Elements; Brisbane based Hip-hop Dance Company Elements Collective; Jake McLarnon and Scott Ewen from Expressions Dance Company performing Isochronism; Brisbane's Phluxus2 Dance Collective performing This!; Sprung! Integrated Dance Theatre (from the Northern Rivers NSW) performing an excerpt from Encounters; and Yanela Piñera and Victor Estevez, principal artists from the Queenland Ballet, performing a pas de deux from Cinderella.

Come and celebrate the Australian dance profession's achievements! Bookings: here.

Pictured above are Valrene Tweedie and Athol Willoughby in 'Le coq d'or', National Theatre Ballet (1955). Photo: Walter Stringer.