Archive - Dance Avenue

Drummoyne Civic Centre, Sydney

Founder, Director, Dance Tutor, Event Producer
1992-1999

Selected Archive Credit

A decade of integrated movement instruction, production, and performance work that laid the foundations for large-scale event production, broadcast collaborations, and national industry-level touring projects.

Dance Avenue was founded and operated by Raymond Mather at the Drummoyne Civic Centre as a weekly ballroom dance school and social dance program.

The venue operated every Friday and Saturday night throughout the year, closing only during the Christmas and New Year period. Each evening followed a structured format, with ballroom dance classes held at 6.30 pm and 7.30 pm, followed by a large-scale social dance from 8.30 pm to 11.30 pm.

Interior setup at the Drummoyne Civic Centre showing tables and seating prepared in advance of a Dance Avenue ballroom and social dance evening.

Interior view of the Drummoyne Civic Centre configured with tables and seating prior to a Dance Avenue ballroom class and social dance evening.

Class sizes regularly ranged from 30 to over 100 participants, with social dance attendance typically between 80 and more than 200 people per night. The program attracted dancers from across Sydney and became a consistent, well-established hub for social ballroom dance throughout the 1990s.

 

Stage setup, technical infrastructure, and live dance floor activity during Dance Avenue weekly ballroom classes and social dance programs at the Drummoyne Civic Centre.

View across the Drummoyne Civic Centre hall toward the main entrance during a Dance Avenue evening, showing the architectural setting and spatial scale of the venue.

Once each year, the Drummoyne Civic Centre was unavailable due to the local Art Society’s annual exhibition. During these periods, Dance Avenue temporarily relocated for two weeks to alternative venues, including the University of Sydney City Hall, Balmain High School, and Oatlands House.

Dance Avenue operated continuously from 1992 until 1999, when Raymond Mather left Sydney. The program was subsequently continued by a colleague until 2001, marking nearly a decade of uninterrupted weekly operation and sustained community engagement.

Ballroom dance instruction followed by full social dance participation as part of Dance Avenue’s structured weekly program at the Drummoyne Civic Centre.

Cha Cha Charity Ball

From 1993, Dance Avenue also gave rise to the annual Cha Cha Charity Ball, a special formal event created and produced by Raymond Mather as a glamorous occasion for dancers and supporters to dress up, socialise, and celebrate ballroom culture beyond the weekly program.

Held at venues including the inaugural event at the InterContinental Hotel Sydney, The Roundhouse at the University of New South Wales, and Manly Leagues Club, the Cha Cha Charity Ball expanded the Dance Avenue community into a large-scale social and charitable event. The evenings combined ballroom dancing, live performance elements, and formal presentation, raising funds for organisations including the Spastic Centre of NSW and the Northcott Society.

While distinct from the weekly Dance Avenue program, the Cha Cha Charity Ball emerged directly from its community, organisational structure, and cultural ethos, reinforcing Dance Avenue’s role as both a social hub and a platform for charitable and celebratory events throughout the 1990s.

Context and Continuity

Dance Avenue established the foundations of Raymond Mather’s later work across film, theatre, fashion, and large-scale events. The ongoing responsibility of directing classes, managing high-attendance social dances, and sustaining a consistent public program over many years developed skills in movement direction, spatial awareness, audience engagement, timing, and emotional intelligence.

These competencies translated directly into choreography, rehearsal direction, and event production, including the use of the Drummoyne Civic Centre for rehearsal preparation connected to national productions such as the National Hairdressing Industry Trust (NHIT) gala events.

During this period, the Drummoyne Civic Centre was also used for rehearsal preparation connected to national productions, including the National Hairdressing Industry Trust (NHIT) gala events. These rehearsals drew directly on the existing Dance Avenue program infrastructure, space familiarity, and participant coordination established at the venue.

“Rehearsals for selected performance elements were conducted at the Drummoyne Civic Centre, drawing on Raymond Mather’s ongoing Dance Avenue program operating at the venue during this period.”

Wide view of rehearsal preparation at the Drummoyne Civic Centre connected to NHIT gala productions, using the Dance Avenue program space.

 

Expanded Practice and Associated Projects (1990s) 

Throughout the 1990s, Dance Avenue functioned not only as a weekly ballroom dance school and social dance program, but as a flexible creative platform through which Raymond Mather undertook a wide range of choreographic, educational, and live production projects across theatre, fashion, sport, corporate events, and international cultural contexts.

Alongside the core Dance Avenue program at the Drummoyne Civic Centre, Raymond was engaged as a choreographer, movement director, guest tutor, and event producer for major public, corporate, and community-based events. These included Strictly Football halftime and promotional productions, private Cotillion and Debutante-style balls within culturally specific community settings, fashion parades, dance demonstrations, and formal social events staged for large audiences.

Raymond also delivered production and choreography for corporate and gala events, including national corporate functions for Pfizer in Hobart, staged at Wrest Point Hotel Casino, featuring performances by Rhonda Burchmore.
This period also included an on-air performance appearance on Channel 10 Telethon, performing to Time of My Life from Dirty Dancing in association with Sonia Kruger, alongside Doug Parkinson and Maggie McKenny.
Corporate launch work during this period also included a promotional event for Next, staged within the Channel 10 Studios Gore Hill, integrating live presentation and broadcast studio production. Philanthropic and community-focused productions included the Northcott Society Role Models gala events, integrating performance, ceremony, and visual storytelling.

Internationally, Raymond directed and coordinated dancers for resort and cultural events including productions at Iririki Island Resort, and curated feature ballroom presentations such as A Night with the Stars in Nouméa, bringing together ballroom artists alongside guest performers associated with the Dance Theatre of Harlem and the Paris Opera Ballet.

In parallel, Raymond contributed choreography, movement direction, and dance education to national hair and fashion touring programs for leading industry brands including Wella, Schwarzkopf, and Goldwell, as well as productions associated with the National Hairdressing Industry Trust (NHIT). He also choreographed runway and parade presentations for the Gordon Charles Agency, including the Emilio Hair Expo launch at the Regent Sydney.

Alongside commercial and event production, Raymond was invited to work as a guest dance tutor and movement specialist within tertiary and professional training contexts, including the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) and the University of Western Sydney, contributing to actor training, movement awareness, and performance preparation.

Comedy of Manners magazine feature, 1991.
Editorial coverage documenting etiquette and social skills workshops developed and delivered by Raymond Mather through Dance Avenue, integrating movement, presence, and social confidence training within a broader practice of dance education and cultural participation.

The etiquette and social skills workshops documented in the 1991 magazine feature Comedy of Manners sit within this broader continuum of practice. They reflect an integrated approach to movement, presence, social confidence, and audience experience that underpinned Dance Avenue throughout the decade and later informed major gala events, theatre choreography, national touring productions, and international cultural projects.

Taken together, these projects position Dance Avenue not simply as a ballroom dance school, but as a sustained professional practice through which choreography, education, event production, and cultural participation intersected across community, corporate, broadcast, and international contexts.

ART1 Archive Context

This page forms part of the ART1 Archive, documenting professional creative work, exhibitions, and cultural contributions undertaken prior to the launch of ART1 Fine Art Photography.

See more projects and professional experiences in Selected Credits.