Elisabeth's Story
Bachelor of Arts, Master of Professional Ethics, & Graduate Diploma in University Learning & Teaching from University of New South Wales (UNSW); Diplôme Approfondi de Langue Française (DALF - Proficiency in French Language) from the French Ministry of Education at Alliance Française, Sydney.
Private professional theatre studies: Ecole Etienne Decroux, Paris (2 years), Cynthia Briggs, Paris (2 years), Ecole du ‘Quat Sous, Montréal, Canada (18 months). Ton Witsel, Sydney (2 years). Multiple specialised theatre workshops during 20 years in Entr’acte.
Personal Awards: French Govt Scholarship, Ian Potter Foundation Scholarship.
Entr’acte Grants 1979-95: from the boards of Theatre, Dance, Literature, New Media, Music, Design and Touring Australia Council (now known as Creative Australia) and NSW Ministry for the Arts; 3 DFAT Special Grants (Cultural Exchange) awarded to the full company for art-making and exchange in Indonesia (1986, 1987, 1992). Received Grants from the Ian Potter Foundation, Myer Foundation, and the Elizabethan Theatre Trust.
Current: self-directed theatre research and writing.
Publications: Burke, E, & Gatti, E, Eclipse (1995): A Traveller’s Map, in Allen, R, & Pearlman, K’s Performing the Unnameable, 1999, Currency Press & RealTime. This was an anthology of writings by contemporary performance artists.
Burke, E. The Sydney Scene, Bleedlines Conference papers, 1992, Centre for Performance Studies, Sydney University.
OTHER WRITING: Burke, E. Dante’s Inferno: A Theatre of Transformation, paper presented to 2001 Student Conference on Applied Ethics, Ohio University, Athens Ohio, USA. (Invited to present the paper following its submission into an international writing competition on philosophy). Received a travelling scholarship from UNSW’s COFA.
Burke, E. Fit for what Purpose, essay submitted to the Horne Prize 2018.
CITED IN: Anderson, K. and Ross, I., Performance Design in Australia, 200, Craftsman House; World Encyclopedia of Contemporary Theatre, Vol 5 Asia/Oceania, 1998, Routledge; Concise Companion to Theatre in Australia, 1997, Currency Press. Jill Sykes' farewell article surveying 50 years as dance critic for SMH, Jan 7, 2023.
After graduating in history, philosophy, and theatre studies, Elisabeth began practical theatre classes – not to become an actor, but to better understand the theoretical framework studied at university. While working with Omnibus, Québec, she decided to put her work energy where her heart and mind sang, returning to Sydney, Australia, to co-found Entr’acte Theatre (1979-99). Elisabeth, Pierre Thibaudeau, and Entr’acte were all mentioned in Jill Sykes’ farewell article* on leaving the Sydney Morning Herald on January 7, 2023. It was the dance critic’s survey of outstanding contributions to dance and movement arts over 50 years.
When the company closed in 1999, Elisabeth worked as a consultant to the Australian National Maritime Museum and later in the higher education fine arts sector (Arts Administration) at the College of Fine Arts (now UNSW Art + Design) during which she gained a Masters degree, a Graduate Diploma, and DALF. She participated in both a French-language choir and a French-language theatre company. Today she sings in the unauditioned SATB (four-part) community choir Leichhardt Espresso Chorus that gained its reputation for commissioning new work by Australian composers.
In 2016 the flooding of the performance archive room at Sydney University brought her back to the theatre world she knew so well. Her cataloguing of ETL’s print, photomedia, video and film, sound, design and teaching archives led to new thinking, research, writing, and planning for future art projects. She would love to be involved in a work that honours the aging body in performance.
In 2014 Elisabeth trekked for 16 days in Nepal and in 2024 she walked part of the Camino in France.