Dr Elizabeth Cameron Dalman OAM (b. 1934), choreographer, teacher and performer, was born in Adelaide and trained in classical ballet and modern dance with Nora Stewart. Dalman left Australia in 1957 to continue her dance studies and perform in London, Europe and New York. Returning to Adelaide in 1963 she started her own school of dance, which she directed until 1975. She established the Australian Dance Theatre in 1965, and was the company's artistic director for ten years. As its main choreographer she created over 30 innovative works, frequently using commissioned scores from Australian composers and designs by Australian artists. From 1976 Dalman lived in Italy, where she founded a dance school in Ventimiglia, and a youth dance theatre. Ten years later she reinvigorated her career in Australia, both in performance and choreography, and continues to create solo and group shows today. After moving to Lake George, New South Wales Dalman founded the Mirramu Creative Arts Centre and later the Mirramu Dance Company, where her focus has been on the creation of site-specific works. She has also had a significant role to the mentoring program at the Australian Choreographic Centre. From 2016 she performed internationally as an actor/dancer with Michael Keegan-Dolan's award-winning Swan Lake/Loch na hEala, which toured for four years. Dalman's contribution to her field has been acknowledged through numerous awards, including an Australian Artists Creative Fellowship in 1994, the Medal of the Order of Australia in 1995, and the award for lifetime achievement at the inaugural Australian Dance Awards in 1997.
