This piece appears in the June 2015 issue of dancewest and is published with the kind permission of Ausdance WA.
Associate Professor Maggi Phillips - dancer, educator and scholar died peacefully on Tuesday March 31st surrounded by those closest to her.
Maggi’s contribution to Australian dance through her indefatigable poetic and critical intelligence, rigour, discourse and research is immeasurable. Born in Melbourne on August 30, 1944, her life path crossed many disciplines and worldviews, from dancer to a world literature doctorate, circus ring to university boardroom. Diversity served as both mentor and guiding principle in: pioneering a model for dance development and seeding the confidence to participate and make dances in young Northern Territorians; guiding WAAPA undergraduates and postgraduates through the demands of investigation and articulation; and contributing to the advocacy of the knowledge/s of dance in national pedagogical and research forums.
As a young and devoted student of classical ballet Maggi first trained in the Cecchetti method at the National Theatre Ballet School with Madame Lucie Saranova, and continued with various teachers including Rex Reid, Kathy Gorham, Maggie Scott and Robert Pomié. After missing out on a place at the newly formed Australian Ballet; a lone year studying humanities; a stint at the Tivoli and her first paid gig in the "Black and White Minstrels"; Maggi departed Australia in 1965 for maverick seas at the age 20. In Paris she succumbed to peer pressure and took can-can classes, thereafter spending nine years as "Capitaine" and soloist working with Doris Haug (choreographer of the Moulin Rouge) in her touring company Doriss Dancers. As part of the company Maggi performed in theatres, casinos and circuses (starring in her beloved elephant act with Swiss National Circus Knie) across Europe, the Middle East and South America.
Maggi returned to Australia in 1974, pregnant with daughter Anna Lise and by 1975 was deeply ensconced in the Darwin arts community where the significant impact of her work remains keenly felt today. A creative pioneer who worked in direct response to the culturally diverse needs of the community, Maggi’s pivotal work in the 1970’s and 80’s established and galvanized innovative projects in dance education and community dance. The development of her dance education company Feats Unlimited 1984–1987 was the first of its kind in the Northern Territory, fostering local choreographic development and touring to remote and isolated communities. The trail-blazing model of inclusive creative practice she instilled continued on through the Brown’s Mart Community Dance Program and in the work of Tracks.
Changes and transitions, yet again, drew Maggi into academic life where she gained a doctorate in 1996, and eventually a position lecturing in dance history at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA). Her broad knowledge beyond the scope of dance (she was reading Russian and European writers by age 20 and her doctorate was in the comparative analysis of postcolonial African and Indian literature), shaped her vision as founder and coordinator of Research and Creative Practice at WAAPA, a position that facilitated the integration of her twin loves - artistic innovation and research. In her role as a passionate advocate of practice as research, Maggi was instrumental developing a dynamic creative research paradigm recognized within the academic sphere and beyond, leading to exponential growth in higher degree research students at WAAPA in recent years. Her depth of knowledge saw her inspire and nurture students to understand their specialist discipline as evidencing embodied thought and contributing to a broader understanding of the human condition.
Together with Cheryl Stock and Kim Vincs, Maggi published Guidelines for Best Practice in Australian Doctoral and Masters Examination, Encompassing the Two Primary Modes of Investigation, Written and Multi-modal Theses, the culminating document of an Australian Learning and Teaching Council grant, Dancing between Diversity and Consistency: Refining Assessment in Post Graduate Degrees in Dance.
In addition to her role at WAAPA, Maggi was involved in numerous dance and theatre projects and organisations, including the World Dance Alliance, International Federation of Theatre Research (IFTR) and the Australasian Association for Theatre, Drama and Performance Studies (ADSA). She was an avid writer on dance from numerous perspectives, including cultural distinctiveness, singular knowledge and danced thought and contributed to many dance and arts publications including Realtime, Dance Australia, The West Australian and dancewest. From 2013 she was the editor of Brolga – an Australian journal about dance. In 2010, Maggi received the Australian Dance Award for Services to Dance Education.
Her recent battle with ‘annoying’ recurrent health issues did not hinder continued international travel, conference engagements, hearty discussion or generosity of presence. Maggi ‘s life was celebrated by a sunset memorial overlooking the Swan River. Guests Nanette Hassall, Michael Whaites, Justin Rutzou, Renee Newman and others, including her daughter Anna Lise Phillips, shared words from those who loved her around the world. It was a reverent and appreciative crowd who witnessed in silence as an effigy of an elephant burned while Maggi’s voice trailed literally into the sky and as well as grounded us underfoot. Maggi is survived by her daughter Anna Lise Phillips, her mother Stella Phillips and a collective imagination shared by a corps of current and past students, colleagues, friends. She will be greatly missed.
- Jo Pollitt with gathered contributions from Renee Newman, Nanette Hassall and Maggi Phillips.