00:00Elizabeth Dahlman likes to lead from the front.
00:11The dance is part of who I am.
00:14She founded the Australian Dance Theatre in 1965.
00:19Now she's back, helping put together its Adelaide Festival show, A Quiet Language.
00:25It's joyous, it's massive, it's fun.
00:29With a lot of, kind of a homage to movement, Australian movement from the past till now.
00:37She returned from the Netherlands in the 1960s and set up ADT, a company based on modern
00:44dance.
00:45It caused ripples of angst from lovers of classical ballet.
00:48The reviewers, we got, you know, this dance is ugly, or they've got bare feet, this is
00:58shocking, you know, or they're rolling on the floor, oh dear, dear, you know.
01:06Dahlman wasn't just provoking the dance world, but at the forefront of social and political
01:10change, including protesting against the Vietnam War.
01:15In that time we were breaking lots of, lots of rules you might say, but for the better.
01:27She still carries an aura at 90.
01:31She has an amazing presence about her.
01:33She is a storyteller, she is like a creative goddess.
01:38She comes into the room and you can't help but lean forward and listen.
01:45It's a 60th anniversary show that will draw heavily on history and ADT's place in it.
01:51I think it's very important for dance, and particularly contemporary dance, to understand
01:59what went before, who were the pioneers, why did they do it and how did they do it.
02:06The show premieres in late February.
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