Honour Board

In 2007, the DTAA General Committee and Professional Membership Committee honoured Mary Builth, Denis Kelynack and Jenny Czulak Riley with Honorary Professional Memberships. These three experienced dance therapists were practitioners in the field for many years and earned great respect and recognition within the dance-movement therapy community.

Mary Builth

Mary Builth, Dip.DMT [IDTIA], Dip. P.E.[Eng] Dip Teaching, Cert. DMT, has worked in most Australian States, introduced trainees to DMT, led workshops for people empowerment, run DMT programs in nursing homes, lead workshops for teachers, taken DMT sessions for ‘normal neurotics’ and cancer patients and worked with a variety of private clients.

Drawn to dance from an early age, she started her PE training just as Rudolph Laban ‘sold’ the principles of Modern Educational Dance to the College she trained at in Liverpool (UK). So… she was initially heavily influenced by his work, noting at that time that performances she and her fellow students produced, were attracting audiences. More importantly, when she gained her first teaching position in a local girl’s school and was allowed a free rein to teach, she noted how her students were able to express themselves resulting in “stunning individual movement styles”.

She continues to work (at her age??) because she feels she still has something to offer in the way of dance and movement and believes that if you do – then it should be shared to others.

Mary also loves to continue to dance because it allows her to express herself whenever she needs and be her own person. She tells us that she is someone who loves nature, and draws from it constantly in her world of DMT. Through her approach to DMT she feels that she can relate what she is striving to achieve to the world out there.

Her presence as educator, facilitator, inspirational presenter and creative dynamo (her wonderful, glowing energy never diminishing) has been like the glue that holds the pages of the book of dance-movement therapy in Australia together.

 

Denis Kelynack, 1927-2010

Denis Kelynack first became aware of dance-movement therapy in 1971 at a workshop given by Tamara Greenberg at the Centre for Energetic Studies in San Francisco. Realising that it is possible to bring internal issues into movement and, also using movement to change them, had an enormous impact on Denis who was, at the time, a counselling psychologist. Returning to Australia, Denis enrolled in the Graduate Diploma of Movement and Dance to study with Hanny Exiner. On graduating, Denis was invited to teach in that course. His subject, Psychology and Dance, focussed on ways of bringing the Jungian archetypes into human movement. Later, he and Warren Lett worked together to lead the therapy section of a dance therapy subject with Hanny Exiner and Karen Bond. Feeling it was still important to understand the physical or 'body' aspects of dance therapy, Denis went on to engage in another project with Hanny Exiner. He and Hanny worked as a duo over three years, where Hanny was the therapist and Denis the client. This resulted in the book Dance Therapy Redefined (Exiner and Kelynack (1994). Later Denis joined the teaching team in the RMIT dance therapy course. His work explored ways in which symbols can lead to a richer dance experience.

Denis was President of the DTAA between 2001 and 2007. As President, Denis worked closely with the core committee and convened a number of sub-committees. During his Presidency, the DTAA achieved membership of PACFA (Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia) and the roles of various sub-committees were more closely defined. In retirement Denis returned to the piano, writing songs and choral works, while he continued as a loyal and valued member of the dance therapy community.

A conversation between Denis and Jenny Czulak Riley and an article about him, written by Sarah Jones in 1993, were published in Moving On Vol. 7 No's 3 and 4, 2008 – 2009

Jenny Czulak Riley, 1924-2011

 

Jenny Czulak Riley, Grad.Dip. Movement & Dance (University of Melbourne), Grad Cert. Dance Therapy (University of Melbourne) is a founding member of the DTAA, author of Growing Older, Dancing On, and is an experienced dance group leader for older adults.

Jenny says that “It all started with Hanny Exiner – she being the most fertile source of inspiration for dance educators in my generation; I being one of the pioneers of the ABC’s educational TV programmes for schools…….” and from this point Jenny C. R.. has some wonderful tales to tell from many years ago particularly in regards to performing TV epics, using some of Hanny’s primary age dance students as the performers. (These tales, are amongst others to be published later this year – and do look out for the monolithic teeth! See Ed. note).

Jenny conceptualised, co-wrote and directed “Free to Move”, an ABC radio programme for primary school children. In more recent times, she was assistant author of Dance Therapy Redefined by Hanny Exiner and Denis Kelynack. Though in her’80’s (though who would believe it!) she was still totally devoted to dance and gave generously of her time and energies to support the dance-movement therapy profession in so many ways. Her active involvement with the DTAA went back to well before its formation, being on a committee to further dance education, which became Ausdance, and from this the DTAA was eventually formed.

Life Members

Naomi Aitchison
Jil Groom