Nell Challingsworth papers, 1880-1996

MLMSS 8871/Boxes 1-7
MLMSS 8871/Box 8X

fonds

1880-1996

Textual Records, Graphic Materials, Moving Images, Musical Sound Recordings, Nonmusical Sound Recordings, Manuscript Notated Music, Notated Music, Clippings, Photographs, Posters, Ephemera

411464

1.9 metres of textual material (7 boxes and 1 outsize box), some boxes contain sound recordings and graphic material

Nell Challingsworth (Mrs Eleanor Burnham), born Eleanor Reade in 1909 in Melbourne, was a teacher of dance, choreographer and author, whose interests lay in the areas of heritage dance, liturgical movement and social and ballroom dance. She became a full-time dance teacher at the age of 18, teaching in many Victorian schools and colleges and establishing the Sovereign Hill Heritage Dancers before moving to Sydney in 1984, where she established the Australian Heritage Dancers. In 1986 she took both dance groups to the Festival Mondial de Folklore in Canada. The coordination of massed displays of colonial dance for the Bicentenary took her around Australia in 1988 and she was also responsible for dance sequences in the television mini-series ‘All the rivers run’ and ‘Joe Wilson’.

She was author of the books ‘Dancing down the years: the romantic century in Australia’ (1978), ‘Liturgical dance movement: a practical guide’ (1982), ‘Bush dance for everyone: a colonial dance manual’ (1985) and ‘Australia's dancing heritage: stories of the 19th century’ (1994) and also produced commercial videotapes of various dance forms.

In 1994 she was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for her services to the performing arts in the field of dance. Nell Challingsworth died in 2000.

References:
Library correspondence file
Australian Heritage Dancers http://australianheritagedancers.org.au (accessed Feb 28, 2013)
Trove http://trove.nla.gov.au (accessed Mar 1, 2013)

BOX 1
Photograph album entitled ‘Australia at World Festival Canada 1986; Director Nell Challingsworth’, 1986
Photographs, including personal and publicity photographs, debutante balls, dance groups, 1944-1994
Programs, awards and certificates, mainly relating to dance, 1943-1990
Printed material relating to voyages on the ships ‘Arcadia’, ‘Himalaya’ and ‘Guglielmo Marconi’ and manuscript and carbon typescript drafts of an account of a voyage, 1963-1971
Typescript letter entitled ‘Trip to Woomera’, 1972

BOXES 2-3
Unsorted newscuttings, correspondence and printed material relating to her work as a dance instructor, speaking engagements, book and article publications, 1948-1996
Manuscript, typescript and printed teaching notes including instructions for different dance styles, 1949-1981

BOX 4
Manuscript, printed and photocopied dance music scores, ca. 1880-1961

BOX 5
Biographical information relating to David Cope, ca. 1980, and to residents of Chatswood Nursing Home, ca. 1980
Subject files relating to conferences, performances and courses, 1953-1991

BOX 6
Ballroom and other dancing manuals, 1951-ca. 1982
Photographs and photocopies of illustrations, predominantly Australian colonial scenes, and of covers of music scores from the 19th century, ca. 1980
Research material including original and photocopied images relating to period costume and dance, 1979-1980
Dance cards, 1954-1989

BOX 7
Sound recordings
16 music cassettes including ‘Dancing down the years’ produced by Nell Challingsworth (4 copies) and ‘Bushdance for all’ produced by Nell Challingsworth (3 copies)
30 sound cassettes of interviews (ca. 1976-1989)
Not to be issued - master tapes only. For access please contact the Curator of Oral History

BOX 8X
1 black & white photograph on hand-decorated mount entitled ‘Debutantes at the Footscray Mayoral Ball’ (Grace Phillips, Alma Zorr, Mrs W.H. Fielding (Mayoress), Marie Fitzpatrick, Irene Williams), 11 Aug 19[??]
Poster ‘Victoriana Full Moon Ball’, Sovereign Hill, Ballarat, 1983
Poster ‘Festival mondiale de folklore’, Drummondville, Canada, 1986

MOTION PICTURES
3 motion picture reels and 21 video tapes are housed separately from the records at MLMSS 8871. They include ‘19th century heritage dances of Australia’ produced by Nell Challingsworth, recordings of dance performances including massed dance displays held during the 1988 Bicentennial, and radio interviews. For enquiries about this material please contact the Manuscripts Section

Copyright status:: In copyright - this collection has multiple rights owners
Approval for reproduction required: from copyright owner
Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales and Courtesy copyright holder

Information upgraded as part of the Manuscripts Unprocessed eRecords Project 2012-2013