Lee Christofis has had a wide and varied career in dance writing, criticism and lecturing in print, radio and television. Concurrently he has had a successful career in early childhood care and education, and more recently creating a multicultural arts marketing program, for which he received a Victorian Award for Excellence in Multicultural Affairs (2001). He is presently the Curator of Dance at the National Library of Australia.
Where were you born?
I was born in Brisbane to a Cypriot father who owned American-style cafes and directed plays, and a Greek mother from Egypt. They both sang, so inevitably my two older sisters and brother and I grew up with musicals, opera, jazz and movies.
How old were you when you first took up dancing?
Greek dancing at about three. Ballet was too late – 14 – but I still had fun being in ballet numbers in Christmas pantomimes at the Brisbane Town Hall.
What is your earliest memory of dancing?
Before I was three. We danced all the time. I vividly recall Mum cooking and singing. She’d whip out a towel and dance around the kitchen. At parties she’d do it all in a cocktail dress. On stage? Around four, watching the Jill Cadden Academy annual show – a ballet to Khatchaturian’s Masquerade Waltz and kids tapping on glitter-covered boxes.
You joined the Queensland Ballet in 1966. Tell us briefly about your dance career?
It was brief – four seasons. The best experiences were dancing Charles Lisner’s dramatic modern ballets which masterfully interwove soloists with the ensemble: Medea, The Utopians and Oedipus Rex. The most fun were “Popular Song” in Ashton’s Facade, and Kenneth McMillan’s 210-second-long trio Valse Eccentrique, a 1900s beach comedy with about 15 travelling pique turns to the right – of course I was a left turner!
When did you move into early childhood development?
After the QB I trained as a fashion buyer but really needed something more meaningful. My second sister ran a big city creche and after work I’d go to play with the children. This inspired me in 1974 to enter the Brisbane Kindergarten Teachers College. I majored in child-care studies and became the state’s first male graduate and child-care worker.
This developed into a speciality with multicultural education – how did this come about?
Being bilingual and bicultural I had insights in this aspect of education. So I joined an advisory team writing programs and helping staff working with immigrant and refugee families and children in creches and kindergartens. It was a huge experience.
How did you get into dance criticism?
In March 1981 the ABC’s Queensland manager asked me at a dinner if I knew a dance critic for a new arts show on Radio National. I said I’d think about it and we got into a long debate about opera. Next day he called to say he’d found his dance critic. “It’s you!” he said, and he wouldn’t take no for an answer. A year later, in Melbourne, much the same thing happened.
What have been some highlights of your dance writing career?
Interviewing Merce Cunningham at the 2007 Melbourne Festival, and Jiri Kylian, Glen Tetley and Lin Hwai-min from Cloudgate Dance Theatre. Two powerful encounters with Jean-Christophe Maillot and William Forsythe. Maillot told me my Australian review of Monte Carlo Ballet’s Romeo and Juliet revealed how he might resolve a weakness in his second act; he thanked me profusely and said he’d re-choreographed that afternoon; Forsythe asked to see me after reading my review of his controversially violent Eidos Telos. It was so complex and literary, he told me, that he couldn’t imagine it appearing in a European newspaper. It was amazing to get such feedback.
Looking back to when you left the Queensland Ballet in 1970, how does your career compare with your expectations then?
There was no illusion about my technical limitations, so I stopped when I felt ready to. All my other work has been equally challenging, often on a personal level, and also immensely rewarding. It has always related to people and finding solutions to complex issues. I look back and see that my deep and enjoyable relationships with Charles Lisner and Mary Heath were hugely influential. Charles taught me about aesthetics, authenticity, analysis and economy in choreography; Mary taught me about imagination, style and pride in one’s efforts. These invaluable lessons inform my work today.
