FEATURED AUTHOR
Nalina Wait
Nalina Wait is a lecturer in Dance at the Australian College of Physical Education. She is a pākehā of Éireannach (Irish) settler descent, who lives in Bidgigal/Gadigal Country, Eora/Sydney. She has had a 25+ year career as a professional dance artist as a performer, choreographer, dance filmmaker, and teacher, specialising in improvisation. As a pracademic, her research interests include improvised dance, Somatics, affect, embodied cognition, and composition.
Subjects: Critical & Creative Life Writing, Philosophy, Theater
Biography
BiographyDr Nalina Wait is a Dance lecturer at the Australian College of Physical Education (ACPE). She has a BA(Dance) from the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA), and 1st class Hons and Doctorate of Philosophy from the University of New South Wales (UNSW). Before becoming a Dance pracademic, she had an extensive career as a dance artist working as a performer, choreographer, and filmmaker. As a dance artist, she performed in all of Sue Healey’s series (2003-2023) Niche, In Time, The Curiosities, and On View, and in works by Hans Van Den Broeck (SOIT), Lizzie Thomson, Rosalind Crisp, DanceWorks, Joan Jonas, and Marina Abramović. As a choreographer, she collaborated extensively with Jane McKernan and sound artists Clayton Thomas, Gail Priest, Alister Spence, and James Brown. Her choreographic works include End of the Anthropocene (2019), Wildings (dance film 2016), Phosphene (2014), Pastafari (2015), The Empty Centre (2011), Never odd or even (2011), Slow Riot (2010), Choreomania (2010), Dual (2008), 2 Dual (film 2008), Instant (film 2006), Sole (film 2003), and kyu (2002). For more information see nalinawait.com
Education
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Doctorate of Philosophy, UNSW, Sydney, 2020
Honours, UNSW, Sydney, 2012
Bachelor of Arts (Dance), WAAPA Edith Cowan University
Areas of Research / Professional Expertise
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Publications
Wait, N. (2023). Improvised dance: (In)corporeal knowledges. Routledge.
Wait, N. (2019). “Embodied consciousness.” In V. Midgelow (ed.), The Oxford handbook of improvisation in dance. Oxford University Press.
Wait, N. & Brannigan, E. (2019). “(Non) competitive body states: Corporeal freedom and innovation in contemporary dance.” In S. Dodds (ed.), The Oxford handbook of dance and competition. Oxford University Press.
Wait, N. (2015). Working with the breath. Critical Dialogues (5), 16-17.
Wait, N. (2015). Authentic movement: Seated. Critical Dialogues (5), 32-33.
Wait, N. (2015). Dance Massive: An independent Sydney perspective. Critical Dialogues (4) 28-31.
Wait, N. (2014). Listening with my skin, bones, organs, eyes. RealTime Magazine (123), 24.
Interviewed in Baxter, V. (2013). Performing in 13 Rooms. RealTime Magazine (115), 8.
Symposia presentations
2015 La Danse Comme Expérience in Recherche Dans Les Arts EHESS, Paris.
ASDA Sydney University
2014 In Conversation panel member at Improvisational Practices Symposium, Critical Path
Past, Present, and Future: Shifting Boundaries FASS Postgraduate Conference, UNSW
2013 Cultures of Change SAM Postgraduate Symposium, UNSW
Research residencies
2022 Intermedial Composition Network, Esme Timbery Theatres, UNSW
2020 On View: Panorama with Sue Healy, Kinosaki-Onsen, Yokahama, and Nagoya, Japan
2017 Pragmatics: Practice: Praxis, Io Myers, UNSW Sydney
2016 Wildings Bundanon Trust with Paea Leach and James Brown
2008 Ausdance Space grant at Queen St Studios with Jane McKernan and Gail Priest
2007 S.A.D.I. Critical Path Responsive residency with Jane McKernan and Gail Priest
2005 Dual Critical Path Responsive residency with Jane McKernan
2004-2017 Critical Path residencies with Jonathan Burrows, Hans Van Den Broeck,
Cordelia Beresford (via a Reeldance mentorship), Wayne McGregor, Wim Vandekeybus, Thierry De May, Rosalind Crisp, Thomas Lehmen, Helen Herbertson and Ben Cobham, and Necera Belaza.
2001 Rosalind Crisp at Monty in Antwerp, Le Biennale Nationale de Danse Val-de-Marne and the CND in Paris, Tanzfabric in Berlin.
Websites
Books
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