The Hon Rod Kemp was Minister for the Arts and Sport from Friday 23 November 2001 to Tuesday 30 January 2007. This site is available for archival purposes only.

Appointment to Australia Council’s Dance Board

The Minister for the Arts and Sport, Senator Rod Kemp, today announced the appointment of Frances Rings for three years to the Dance Board of the Australia Council for the Arts.

‘Ms Rings has invaluable experience as both a dancer and choreographer and I look forward to the contribution she will make to the Dance Board,’ Senator Kemp said.

‘The Dance Board is responsible for supporting the development of Australian dance as a vibrant artform which is relevant and accessible to all communities. It also assists the creation, presentation and dissemination of high-quality, diverse and innovative dance and movement work. The Board has a responsibility to ensure that its contribution to the arts returns a benefit to artists, the community and the nation as a whole.’

Ms Rings first joined Bangarra Dance Theatre in 1993 after graduating from the National Aboriginal and Islander Skills Development Association Dance College.

Ms Rings’ career highlights include performing at the Brooklyn Academy of Music as part of the Next Wave Down Under at the Festival of New York and performing Corroboree in 2001 at the Kennedy Centre in Washington DC.

During 2002 Ms Rings made her main stage choreographic debut for Bangarra in Walkabout.
Ms Rings went on to co-choreograph and perform in Bangarra’s 2003 sell-out season of Bush and danced in the performance of Meryl Tankard’s Pearl during the celebrations for the 30 th anniversary of the Sydney Opera House. She has also performed with Legs on the Wall in Wesley Enoch’s Eora Crossing for the Sydney Festival and travelled to India to lead choreographic workshops at the World Dance Alliance conference in Kolkata.

Ms Rings’ awards include Best New Australian Work at the 2003 Helpmann Awards for Walkabout, the 2003 Deadly Award for Female Dancer of the Year, and the 2004 Ausdance Award for Outstanding Achievement in Choreography for Unaipon.

The Australia Council for the Arts is the Australian Government’s principal arts funding body. It encourages the creativity and development of Australian artists and aims to increase access by all Australians to arts and cultural activities.

CANBERRA
14 September 2005

Media contact: Adrian Chippindale, 02 6277 7350 or 0407 208 743