OH TO MOVE WITH GRACE

19 July 2026

Many of you would have heard the story of my ballet class experience. As a 5 or 6 year old, I was taken to class and within a couple of weeks, the teacher rang Betty. “Mrs Tonks", she said, "please remove your child from my class. Save yourself money because she’s never going to able to move.” And of course the teacher was right. I’ve never had any flexibility or fluidity. The only time I ever received detention in high school was because I refused to perform gymnastics. I knew I couldn’t leap over the horse or do a somersault let alone a handstand. It is somewhat ironic given that history that I’ve been on the Board of two dance companies (WA Ballet and Australian Dance Theatre) and been the CEO (albeit in an interim role) of two dance companies (Chunky Move and ADT). 

It was therefore with some sense of envy that I went to see Penguin presented by Momentum Dance. It’s independent company of mature-age dancers, unsupported by government, but clearly loved by donors and audience members and the local dance community. The work, inspired by the social mimicry of penguins, explored love and loss, uncertainty and change. While not every moment of the choreography was engaging, it was impressive to see older bodies moving with grace on stage. I understand that the oldest dancer in this production was in their 70s.

Later that day I came across a quote from Alexander Pope’s An Essay on Criticism:

True ease in writing comes from Art, not Chance

As those move easiest who have learned to dance

Perhaps I should have tried harder over the years to learn to dance so that my movement now, as I grow older, could be less stiff. Too late, she cried.