Eileen is a portrait of a dancer. Eileen joined the Bodenwieser Ballet – Australia’s first modern dance company – in 1939, and then spent many years living in India, Europe and America, before returning to Sydney in 2014. She was living at Thurles Castle, ‘a home for the potentially homeless’, in Chippendale, Sydney, when I first met her, and we have collaborated on many projects since then. At 103 years of age, Eileen Kramer continues to create: she performs, designs costumes, draws and writes on a daily basis. A painted portrait of Eileen, by surgeon Dr Andrew Greensmith, was a finalist in the 2017 Archibald prize; she thinks it is a lovely portrait but notes that it does not move. This portrait does.
Photo credits: Noel Ruby; images from Bodenwieser Ballet. Cinematographer: Judd Overton Composers: Darrin Verhagen and Justin Ashworth
