Christofis, Lee

Dancer, arts administrator, lecturer and dance curator. Lee Christofis was born in Brisbane and trained as a dancer with the Queensland Ballet. He was vice president of the Australian Dance Council (AusDance) and lectured in dance history, and arts criticism and management at the University of Melbourne. He also wrote on dance for The Australian and other publications, and was a broadcaster for ABC Radio arts and music programs. Christofis was appointed curator of dance at the National Library of Australia in 2006 and has conducted many oral history interviews for the Library's performing arts collection.

The National Library of Australia exhibition, "Dance People Dance", examined the impact on Australian culture of the visits by Pavlova and her company and other Russian ballet companies between 1926 and 1940 and the subsequent development of dance in Australia. It drew upon the National Library's dance collection and also exhibited material borrowed from private collectors and the Australian Ballet, the National Museum of Australia and the Sydney Opera House Trust. The exhibition opened at the National Library on 24 April 1997. Following its closing in Canberra on 12 October 1997, the exhibition travelled to New South Wales, Tasmania, South Australia, the Northern Territory, Queensland and finally Victoria where it closed in December 1999.