| Summary |
Alexandra Moreno, born Qld., in 1942, speaks about her parents and their background; growing up in Caloundra, Qld.; her parents splitting up after the war; mother became a painter and later a conservationist; mother taking her to Scotland at age of 6; beginning dance classes in Dunkeld, Scotland, Boarding school in Dunkeld studying dance, dance drama; seeing ballet and musicals in London; the move to Nairobi, Kenya at age 7 (1949); stories of Mau Mau Uprising; the flight back home to help sick grandmother; the many stops "setting the stage" for a life of travel; Mt. Pleasant, Qld.; Beryl Kennedy; meeting up with her father in Melbourne; more on her father, a colonel in the army; her early childhood; beginning her formal dance training in Nambour; her early story writing, influenced by seeing Borovansky Ballet; her high school experiences, leaving school at end of first year, to go to Brisbane for full time dance classes.
Moreno talks about attending Patrica MacDonald's School; dancing in a show in Melbourne (1958); how her education began when she left school; J.C. Williamsons and Elizabethan Theatre; Betty Pounder (ballet mistress); going to auditions and being selected for the touring show when sixteen years old; Bill Gill; her part in "My Fair Lady", for two years; going to Paris to continue her studies; "Wacare School"; going to Spain with her mother; her love for Spain; her two daughters, both born in Australia; her travels through Spain, the language and her experiences there; her love for Spanish dance and the life and culture of Spain; dance classes in Alicante, Spain; her successes in 1980 as a dancer in Spain; later, working in Qld. and Northern Territory, with Arts Councils, performing Flamenco dances for school children; going back and forth to Spain (1970's); a Medieval Dance Concert, choreographed by Alberto Torres; Maurice Chevalier; the cessation of her performances; the "Meanjin Dance Theatre"; going on a successful tour of Ireland and Papua New Guinea; her stories and research; Tom Petrie; her Spanish Dance School.
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