Norma Linley Wilson and the Australian Caravan Ballet (1898-1990)

Linley, as she was always known, was born in Perth on 23 October 1898, the daughter of one-time WA Premier Frank Wilson CMG (in office 1910-1911) and his wife Annie née Phillips (reference). 

As a child she frequented many fancy dress parties and balls with her parents and siblings (reference). Linley attended Claremont Girls’ High School (now St Hilda’s Anglican School for Girls), winning numerous awards, including several for music and singing (reference). She was also a member of the Rainbow Choir which hosted a charity performance in October 1916 to raise funds for Christmas comforts for the soldiers at the front. Linley sang the lead in the “Spinning Song” (reference). 

At Fremantle, in late 1921, Linley sailed for London aboard the Ceramic, stopping at Durban, South Africa (reference) enroute. She remained in London until 1926 (reference). During her stay, she attended social events such as the West Australian Annual Dinner in London (reference). While studying all forms of dance, she worked as an assistant for Madame Olivette and performed in London (reference). She also studied under Edward Espinosa, the maitre de ballet of the Daly Theatre, and became a member of the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing in London, and of the English Folk Dance Society (reference). 

Upon returning to Perth in 1926, Linley opened a new dancing school in Perth - the Linley Wilson School of Dancing - to teach operatic and ballroom dancing to adults and children (reference). She continued to learn new dance trends and techniques by travelling to Europe. In 1927 she travelled aboard the R.M.S. Maloja and returned in 1928 after passing her operatic, ballroom and country dancing exams (reference). 

Linley featured in the newspaper several times, demonstrating new dances invented in Europe to the Western Australian public (reference). Her dance students also featured in the newspapers as they danced for local community events such as fairs (reference). 

The Australian Caravan Ballet was formed in 1940 with its first performance over the Easter weekend in Bunbury. The touring group, consisting of two caravans and a tent, arrived in Bunbury over the weekend and camped at Edmund Clifton’s holiday house in Australind. On the weekend before their debut they cooked over the campfire, rehearsed for the show and spent their free time swimming, boating and crabbing in the Leschenault estuary. Two nearly sold-out shows were performed on Monday and Tuesday, 25 and 26 March, at the Bedford Hall on Arthur Street (now demolished) and were attended by many people from surrounding towns including Donnybrook, Bailingup and Harvey (reference). The Australian Caravan Ballet was so popular it continued to travel and perform in regional towns until 1953 (reference).

“I am more determined than ever now to continue my efforts to make Western Australia ballet-minded, and I do not see why we should not develop a purely Australian ballet. It is lovely to have the Russian ballet to inspire us, but what we want is our own ballet. Our people have perfect physiques for dancing and they are intensely musical, so we have good material available. I really do feel that Australian ballet will come, and that ballets typical of this country will be created, I like to think also, that someday Australian girls will be able to keep their own names and not assume Russian ones just because they are ballerinas.”

Linley Wilson, The West Australian, 29 March 1940 (reference).

On 22 June 1942 at the Cannington Registry Office, Linley married well-known Perth theatrical producer Keith George during his brief period of leave from WWII service. Linley continued to have a large impact on the dancing community and taught many successful students, until her death in 1990 (reference). 

To this day Linley Wilson is remembered as a pioneer of ballet in Western Australia. The Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) honours her contribution with the Linley Wilson Artistic Scholarship, and the Royal Academy of Dance also has an award named in her honour. More information about Linley can be found at the J S Battye Library and the Australian Dictionary of Biography.