Cheryl Stock

Cheryl Stock PhD AM, has had a diverse and influential career with the common theme of dance running throughout. Cheryl has worked as a dancer, choreographer, academic, teacher and advocate. Cheryl has created over 50 dance works and has been a pioneer in collaborative exchanges with Asia, of particular note is her work in Vietnam. This resulted in her PhD, Making intercultural dance in Vietnam. Cheryl has choreographed for Australian Dance Theatre, Australian Opera, Vietnam Opera Ballet Theatre, Footnote Dance Theatre (New Zealand), Dancenorth, along with many other independent projects nationally and internationally. In 1985, Cheryl became the inaugural Artistic Director of Dance North (now written Dancenorth). Cheryl helped put the Townsville based company on the map. This legacy can be seen through incredible dancers like Samantha Hines, who was recently profiled on Delving into Dance. As a researcher Cheryl has made an enormous contribution to academic and sector wide discourse. She has presented at endless conferences around the globe, published extensively and has nurtured many students. Between 2000–2014 Cheryl was Associate Professor in the Creative Industries Faculty of QUT. In 2016, she was appointed the Head of Cultural Leadership at NIDA and Director, Graduate Studies. Cheryl was National President of Ausdance between 1996-2000 and was elected as Secretary General of the World Dance Alliance (WDA), in 2009. Cheryl’s long list of achievements include being a recipient of the Australian Dance Lifetime Achievement Award (2003) and Order of Australia (2014). She was honored by the Vietnamese government for Services to Dance in Vietnam and the other for Services to the Women’s Movement (1995). Read more about female leadership in dance from Jordon Beth Vincent. This episode is part of a special season Ancestors & Anecdotes, in partnership with Ausdance Victoria.