The Heliotropians

Eileen Kramer grew up within sight and sound of the Australian bush. Her memories of childhood are of nature—the loud laughter of the kookaburras, tadpoles turning into frogs, the magical progress from stalk to leaf of fantastically patterned horned caterpillars, and the sight of glorious pink parrots flying in flocks against the blue skies. Holidays were spent either driving through the country or cruising in the Astoria, the family boat, along the coast of New South Wales, swimming in sheltered bays. Given to dreaming too much, she was not a good pupil and left school as soon as possible (age fourteen) to go her own way. Her mother led her to the Sydney Public Library, where she chose the books she wanted to read. She was interested in biographies about people like Cleopatra and famous opera singers. At nineteen, she enrolled in the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. She studied theory of music, piano, and singing. After attending a performance of modern expressive dance by glamorous Viennese dancers of the Bodenwieser Dance Company, she enrolled in the Bodenwieser School and was eventually taken into Madame Bodenwieser’s professional group. As a dancer, she toured with the Bodenwieser Company throughout Australian coastal towns and cities, New Zealand, India, and South Africa and eventually gave her own dance concerts in London. As a child, she had made her dolls clothes; now as a dancer, she designed and made costumes for the dance company. In New York, she learned to make animated and dance films. She became interested in writing and drew upon her childhood experiences, as well as her adult dancing life and her travels, for her subjects. She is now a member of the Trillium Performing Arts Collective in Lewisburg, West Virginia, where she choreographs and performs in the expressive style of Bodenwieser. Other books by Eileen Kramer include Party for the Moon Man (short stories), Basic Shapes (organic dress and costume design), The Pilgrimage of Truth (a screen play), and Walkabout Dancer (a memoir).