TOURISM PROMOTERS TO TARGET THE 'MATURE AFFLUENT' IN WORLD-WIDE CAMPAIGN. Report by ERWIN CHLANDA
Attracting "mature affluent" tourists from Australia and Europe to
The Centre is shaping up as the focus for local tourism promoters in
1998.
At the same time several of them - traditionally pulling in different
directions - are moving to join forces - and budgets.
"The 'mature affluent' can afford the short break holiday, and they
look for a different, original destination," says Merran Dobson, the
general manager of the Central Australian Tourism Industry Association
(CATIA).
"We've only got a limited number of beds, and the people who sleep in
those beds, we want them to spend a good quid while they're here," says
Tony Mayell, managing director of the NT Tourist Commission (NTTC).
Meanwhile Helen Bateman, a member of the Todd Mall marketing and
several other committees, says local business must offer tourists more
and better service, and they need to "vitalise" the town (see interview
page 7).
Ms Bateman says jealousies between commercial interests and
fragmentation of initiatives have led to expensive failures in the
past, and strong current moves towards a united effort need to be
encouraged.
Ms Dobson says: "It doesn't have to be a dull town, it can be vibrant.
"We can say to the world, we are here, let's get up and get going."
"We've got to make the town profile itself far more significantly, and
the citizens of this town will see monumental changes in the next six
months."
She says these will result from initiatives by the new town council
CEO, Nick Scarvelis, the council's new director of economic and
community development, Suzanne Lollback, and her appointment to CATIA
last year.
"We're saying to the old school, we're all new here, we can give you
different ideas, don't sit back and say, 'oh, we don't think it will
work'," says Ms Dobson.
"Run with it and give it a go." There's new blood in town that can see
the big picture.
"Factions can see their own individual needs, but they're not
necessarily in the big picture."
This follows what Mr Mayell describes as "a summer of more of the same"
- with business at a low ebb, except - according to some sources - some
increase in visitation from Europe and in the budget - backpacker
trade.
Mr Mayell says the NTTC's advertising spending is now directed in about
equal parts to domestic and overseas tourism, with Europe the prime
target.
On the domestic front, two new TV commercials will be screened soon,
one of them dealing with Central Australia.
In the domestic market, which Mr Mayell expects to remain "fairly soft"
this year, "we recognise we need to position Alice Springs as the real
gateway to Central Australia."
Overseas the focus will be on Europe - the source of a double-digit
increase last year - because "not only does it provide longer stays,
they're also a pretty high spending market as well."
The NTTC will push opportunities for extending Asian holidays into the
NT from Europe, as well as offering operators "assistance and
encouragement" to do their own advertising abroad in a new program.
"We've just launched the international marketing support scheme that's
about helping operators financially to get their product in front of
the international market.
"We can promote the NT and Central Australia as a generic destination,
but until the product suppliers get behind us, and get their faces in
front of these markets, then all our efforts are for nothing."
Mr Mayell denies rumours that the NTTC is trying to get out of its
contract with TV star Daryl Somers, seen by sections of the industry in
Alice Springs as having outlived his usefulness.
Mr Mayell says Mr Somers "will not be as visible in the campaign so far
as the public is concerned but we're looking at other ways we can use
him."
This will include trade promotion with travel agents: "He still appeals
to the younger travel agent."
"I think the other ways are going to prove just as effective as he's
proven in the past in putting the Territory on the map in terms of
awareness."
Mr Mayell says Alice Springs has to make the most out of the drawing
power of places such as Ayers Rock.
"That means getting more product in front of the market. We'd love to
see more activity from product suppliers here. There's a gap between
the general service industry and the tourist industry, and the whole
community [needs to become] aware of the importance of tourism. We need
to look at activities within the CBD, in the mall, what shops are open,
what times, and what's actually put on for visitors in the town. I
worry that operators are not doing enough business planning. They're
not sure where exactly their target markets are, where their true
source markets are."
Mr Mayell says with just 5000 tourist beds, the town "is not geared up
for, and we're not really interested in mass market tourism".
He says the NTTC has rewritten marketing plans, and a draft has been
tabled.
"It's all about targeting high yield people."
Asked why this hasn't this been done before, Mr Mayell says: "I've been
here one year and the whole marketing plan's changed in that direction.
"That's our approach from now on in."
Both Ms Dobson and Mr Mayell say that the Asian crisis will impact on
tourism here although Asians do not make up a big slice of our market.
However, Queensland - the preferred destination of Asians - will
experience a sharp drop in business and will seek to invade the
Territory's markets.
"They're going to put every dollar they have into our own fairly stable
marketplace," says Ms Dobson.
"If we're not in the agents' face, we're going to lose our domestic
market to those other places - particularly the Queensland areas."
FOOTNOTE: Three women - Ms Dobson, Ms Bateman and the recent arrival,
Ms Lollback - are behind the push for tourism promotion reform.
Paul Ah Chee's Aboriginal Arts and Cultural Centre presented a painting
to CATIA for the boardroom in its new office, opened last week.
The painting - "significantly" as Ms Dobson puts it - depicts a women's
meeting place.
LABOR MEN TELL HOW THEY WILL FIGHT THE NEXT TERRITORY ELECTION
<>If you're talking to a Legislative Assembly Labor candidate in The Centre, chances are you'll be calling him Peter.JUNE'S GEMS by JUNE TUZEWSKI
A swift and welcome response to the publicity last week over
proposed plantings on the North Stuart Highway.
Ken Hornsby, who is a senior manager with Transport & Works in
Darwin, has advised me that Greening Australia, Alice Springs, have
been invited to comment on the species list.
He will also be meeting with Deputy Mayor, Geoff Miers, and other
members of Town Council during the coming week to discuss the matter
further.
The plantings are the first stage of a long term NT Government Regional
Roads Strategy which aims to enhance the visual approaches to urban
centres across the Territory.
Funds are separate from the Urban Enhancement Scheme which is currently
underway.
A promise from Ken to look at old road signs around town is also most
pleasing.
In my last column, I spoke about how The Alice has benefited from the
many and varied contributions of the people who have lived here.
By coincidence, Chief Minister Shane Stone has announced a new award
for Territory women to be known as the 'Northern Territory Women's
Achievement Awards' to be presented annually.
This year's nominations close February 16.
This is an ideal opportunity to put forward Centralian women whose
personal efforts have enriched our community.
Further details are available from the Women's Information Service 8951
5880.
Sometimes the wider community may appear at odds with sections of the
Aboriginal community particularly over grog issues, and the latest
application by the Tyeweretye Club for a take-away licence is a case in
point.
It is quite a number of years since the first proposals for the
establishment of three such clubs was hotly debated.
Whilst the idea had its detractors, the general attitude towards the
establishment of a least one Aboriginal social club was to "give it a
go"; that maybe access to grog in a setting where the major goal was to
help people enjoy in a drink in a socially responsible manner, would be
a step forward.
Comments which I hear around town at the moment certainly do not
support the club's application.
What I am also picking up is a genuine concern which would make it
extremely difficult for any applicant to get support for such a
licence.
A liquor licence which includes the sale of take-away by its very
nature excludes any control over the place or circumstances where the
drinking occurs.
The community concern around this issue is about where some of the
prospective purchasers are going to be taking their grog.
While the majority of us enjoy a quiet beer at home or at a social
barbeque with friends, small but significant groups continue to drink
in river beds and other spots around town, stretching police resources
which could be better spent elsewhere.
Locals and tourists alike become victims of harassment either being
pestered for money, cigarettes or sworn at.
The alcohol related harm that binge drinkers do to themselves, their
families and the community at large, costs many dollars spent by
Government through Health, Police and other departments, and through
our Court system.
I know the causes of alcohol abuse are not easy to solve, just as it is
simplistic to expect liquor licensing controls to solve anti-social
behaviour problems caused by drinking too much.
I admire much of the work that Bill Ferguson has done in managing the
club and understand the wish to make the club financially viable and to
expand its range of activities.
Social clubs have always had to balance their operations between their
members requirements and competing with other facilities.
Some prosper, some struggle, and others, like the Verdi Club, fall by
the wayside.
The Tyeweretye Club is uniquely placed with its focus on responsible
drinking and a predominantly Aboriginal membership.
I believe that the way to go is not by take-away, but to attract those
who drink at other establishments, including public places.
This will be no easy task.
It will take active assistance from Tangentyere and Arunda Councils,
remote communities and support from other organisations.
It will require a lot of thought and special strategies.
Some other Licensees would be put under pressure.
It won't solve all the problems with anti-social behaviour but, if
successful, many people would benefit.
In the meantime when this application is heard by the Liquor
Commission, the members of that Commission will look at the history and
conduct of the licence.
They will look at all the evidence of objectors and supporters in
addition to the case put forward by the applicant.
And finally in considering all this they will make a judgement as to
whether the Tyeweretye Club's application meets the needs and wishes of
the community at the present time.
[
June Tuzewski is a former member of the Liquor Commission.]
ALICE SPRINGS' UNIQUE DESERT PARK: ITS FIRST YEAR
The Desert Park, heading towards its first anniversary next month,
may reach its target of 100,000 visitors for the year.
Commercial manager Ian Cawood said last week that so far, 81,000 people
had gone through the gates.
He says 50 to 60 per cent of them were locals, suggesting that nearly
every man, woman and child in the town visited twice.
The balance was made up in roughly equal parts of Australian and
international tourists, the latter increasing in numbers during the
more recent months.
Visitor comments are overwhelmingly positive, says Mr Cawood, with the
nocturnal house, the "nature theatre" with the birds of prey and the
film being the most popular features.
He says the park is unique in the world: "It's not a zoo nor a botanic
garden. It's the only 'bio' park in the world which represents all of
the samplings and all of the themes and all the aspects of the desert
environment."
Mr Cawood says revenue was $600,000 for the first eight months,
indicating that many visitors qualified for concession tickets as the
normal admission price is $12 a head.
He says he expects an increase in numbers in the second year, based on
forward bookings, and further increases as the nation approaches the
2000 Olympics.
"We knew we were going to have a soft year in the first year," Mr
Cawood says, because this year tour companies "couldn't change
itinerary at short notice."
This indicates a shortcoming in the park's early marketing because
plans for the attraction have been around for many years, and its
facilities and concept are at least broadly in line with those plans.
Given the park's cost of $24m, and it's $2.58m annual expenditure, it's
hardly a commercial proposition.
Mr Cawood is cautious in his comments about the spin-off from the park
for the broader community.
He says visitors spend an average of three and a half hours looking at
the park, hardly a major factor in extending the time tourists spend in
the town - a prime objective for industry promoters.
Mr Cawood claims there is an "indication" the average stay in The Alice
has increased from 1.3 to "probably 2.3 days", and that the park has
been a major factor in achieving this.
The Central Australian Tourism Industry Association's Merran Dobson
says she can neither deny nor confirm these figures.
What's least clear is in what way the park is serving as a promotion
for the region generally, and the vast Western MacDonnell national park
in particular; and whether it is providing the desperately needed boost
to our sagging tourism industry.
The Desert Park has always been portrayed as a gateway, a point where -
ideally -tourists can get some basic information which they can use in
a much more prolonged exploration and enjoyment of - say - the "West
Macs".
No structured effort to achieve this seems to be in place at the Desert
Park, and if it is, there are no data showing to what degree those
objectives are being achieved.
"It's hard to gauge," according to Mr Cawood: other attractions are
being promoted by rangers, staff and publications, but apparently
merely in a casual way.
Evidence that the park is bringing people to The Alice is also
anecdotal, at least at this stage.
For example, a member of the Smithsonian Institute has told the Tourist
Commission that she'll recommended people to spend less time in Sydney
and more in The Centre - because of the Desert Park.
Mr Cawood is reluctant to comment on whether so much money needed to
have been spent on an "introductory" facility - with the real thing
just outside the gates.
PROPOSED TERRITORY HERITAGE LAWS WILL BE 'THE WORST IN AUSTRALIA'. Report by KIERAN FINNANE
<>Proposed changes to the Heritage Conservation Act will give the Minister sweeping powers to "demolish and destroy" heritage places irrespective of any protection they might previously have had.TOURISM - WE'LL HAVE TO TRY A LOT HARDER! Interview by ERWIN CHLANDA.
A radically new attitude towards our visitors is the key to getting
The Alice out of its present slump, says Helen Bateman.
She's on the Todd Mall Marketing Committee and a former chairwoman;
serves on the town council's economic development committee and the
Honda Masters Games advisory committee, and is the vice chairperson of
the NT Olympics Committee.
She spoke with Alice News editor ERWIN
CHLANDA.
News: We've got the Todd Mall Marketing Committee, the town council,
CATIA, the Chamber of Industries, the Tourist Commission - all
promoting Alice Springs, yet the town seems to be slipping backwards,
with the crucial bed occupancy rate apparently down to 44 per cent. Why?
Bateman: There are too many people with to many fingers in the pie and
no-one's finishing off a job.
The promotion dollar is spread thinly
because it's spread over so many associations.
There are too many
players, trying to do too many things.
I and a lot of other people are
thinking we should be promoting ourselves as a region, Alice Springs as
a whole.
News: In what directions are the different players pulling at the
moment?
Bateman: The town council, for example, has the economic development
committee of which I'm a member.
A few years ago we began to target the
corporate and convention market.
Now we find that we went too big too
soon - 200 or 300 people, let's get them into the town!
Most of our hotels and motels don't have that capacity.
We weren't
successful in that campaign.
We then decided to channel the economic
development budget through CATIA to look at smaller conference groups,
20 or 30 people, get them on one bus, into one restaurant, they can all
go camel riding together.
That has now commenced, and we have no
indication of its results so far - it's too soon.
News: Are Alice Springs business people united in their objectives?
Bateman: The Masters Games promotion committee, of which I'm also a
member, tried to call meetings of the Central Business District as a
whole. But somehow each shopping centre feels threatened.
There's a
certain one-upmanship.
We've lost community involvement and ownership
of the town as a whole.
It's "I'm here just for me." We're hungry as
individuals rather than being hungry for the town as a whole.
News: What's the town image we need to push?
Bateman: That we are unique.
In a way there are a number of people in
the town, in businesses, who don't seem to know they're in a tourist
town.
We're missing out by not being open seven days a week, by not
having vital activities around the town.
Many of the town's attractions
could be "theaterised".
We're not creating any flavour.
I went on a tour to the Adelaide House, Royal Flying Doctor, Pioneer
Women's Hall, School of the Air and the Telegraph Station.
There wasn't
any excitement, any thrill, there was no presentation, no flavour.
In Sovereign Hill people are dressed up and they pull you off the
streets and say, "what are you doing walking down the street the wrong
way?"
Our Heritage Week is fantastic but we need Heritage Week 12 months of
the year.
We have public holidays here where you're lucky to have two
retailers in the Mall open.
Yet that public holiday may be the only day
certain tourists are in the town!
What are they going to say to their
families and their friends?
News: There's a move to change the Todd Mall Marketing Committee into a
Central Business District marketing group.
Bateman: The town council has a new project officer, Suzanne Lollback.
She will be reviewing all council committees.
We have to look at the
bigger picture.
News: What's the bigger picture?
Bateman: Looking at the whole CBD, and having representatives from all
areas and shopping centres on the committee.
THE MURRAY NECK DYNASTY: IF YOU WANT GOOD STAFF, MAKE YOUR OWN!
We conclude our historical feature about the town's oldest trading
family.
As anyone who runs a business knows, staffing as much as product is a
make or break factor in success.
After 60 years in electronics retailing, Murray Neck has an interesting
perspective to offer on staff recruitment and management.
He has also had a wealth of experience in diversifying and
consolidating business interests and has been able to make both
approaches work.
This is the final part in the Alice Springs News special historical and
advertising feature celebrating the long-lived achievements of this
unique Central Australian company.
While Murray Neck arrived in Alice Springs as a babe in arms, with some
family and friends already here, for most non-Aboriginal residents of
the town, this is not the case.
The transience of the population is a long-term problem for employers.
In Murray's experience a lot of men like the Central Australian
environment, but "some of their ladies are not all that keen".
"They miss home, their parents and relatives," he says, "and so
eventually the man has to pack up and go back to the bright lights."
For every four service-related people who come to Alice Springs, three
leave.
It's a great pity but that's always been the case and still is,
to a lesser degree, even though Alice Springs is now quite a
sophisticated city, offering services that most country towns can't
offer.
"Well, if you can't attract staff, make your own!"
In 1951 Murray married Mary Kerrison from Renmark.
They went on to have four children, Chris, Greg, Anthony and Jenny.
For their primary schooling the children went to the Our Lady of the
Sacred Heart Convent school in Alice, but then, like their father, went
to boarding school in Adelaide, the boys to the Christian Brothers'
school at Rostrevor and Jenny to the Loreto Convent school at
Marryatville. "The children all eventually came back to Alice Springs
and joined the business. It was never planned that way, it was their
wish to do so," says Murray.
"They are an integral part of it and have been now for a long time,
working awfully hard at what they do."
Greg was the first to come back in 1972, as Chris had gone on to do a
business studies course at the Institute of Technology in Adelaide.
Anthony went to Melbourne to study accountancy at the Footscray
Institute.
He passed with honours, joined the firm of De Loittes, working as an
auditor with them for a couple of years in Adelaide before he too came
back to Alice Springs, at first with De Loittes, then joining the
family business as their accountant.
Jenny's first job was with the Commonwealth Bank in Alice Springs
before being transferred to Forster in NSW.
She ultimately left the bank to return home and take over the
management of the family's fledgling videotape business, set up in
1980.
Greg had joined the business as second-in-charge at the Alice Springs
Sports Depot.
Murray had started stocking sporting goods as an add-on to his
electrical business, after becoming involved, as secretary of the
Federal Football Club, in the purchase of all the teams' requirements.
Eventually he established a separate shop on Gregory Terrace.
Greg went on to manage the Sports Depot for a number of years before it
was sold.
He then started work in the electrical shop as Murray's deputy.
After Chris's return, the family took on the Honda franchise, operating
out of the old Lackman Agencies building on the present site of Coles'
supermarket.
When, in 1977, they received notice to move from the Coles site, they
bought their present site at the corner of Stott Terrace and Railway
Terrace, opposite Billygoat Hill, where they set up the Alice Springs
Honda Centre and later added the Volvo franchise.
At first they ran cars only but gradually got into Honda motorbikes and
power products, and then Kawasaki bikes.
"It was an excellent business," says Murray.
"We had a full service department, and it was quite profitable for
those early years but it wasn't really compatible with the rest of the
things we were doing. We had sold off our Sports Depot, we were
building up our videotape rental business and we made a decision to
sell our motor vehicles and associated products, in favour of expanding
the videotape business and re-entering recorded music sales.
We moved
the videotape rentals from the initial Todd Street site, where it had
been amalgamated with appliance rentals, to Billygoat Hill, and as we
kept expanding, we kept taking over more showroom space.
Like so many
of the things we have sold, our family introduced video products to
Central Australia."
When Alice Springs finally got TV in 1970, it could have gone straight
to colour.
However, the ABC, the sole transmitter at the time, had put a colour
bar on its equipment.
"Nobody realised this," recalls Murray, "but we had a technician here
called Stan Hillard in charge of the transmitter.
He went to Adelaide and while he was having a look at their equipment,
he noticed the colour bar, pulled it out and all of a sudden Alice
Springs had colour.
"He got into hot water for doing this, the ABC were going to reinstate
black and white but the Northern Territory Government intervened,
someone in the ABC got their knuckles rapped and Stan was a hero for
the town!"
Murray has heard that Stan now lives in Rockhampton.
Many people wanted television once it arrived, yet couldn't afford to
buy a set.
This prompted Murray to set up a rental company, to provide finance for
the purchase of black and white TVs, later colour, and ultimately the
arrangements were extended to white goods.
The introduction of the videotape recorder in 1979 upset the sale of
recorded music for a number of years.
People were investing in VCRs rather than hi-fi equipment, but after
that initial wave, interest in hi-fi returned, and when the compact
disc came onto the market the Necks decided to rebuild their recorded
music business, initially at their Billygoat Hill site.
"When the Ford Plaza was built, Chris established a stand alone music
shop called Murray Neck Musicworld. It's now a flourishing business in
the Alice Plaza. In fact Chris keeps winning awards for it, including
last year's Best ABC Shop for South Australia and the NT."
After 15 years in the videotape business, first under the management of
Jenny, then later Chris, the Necks decided to sell out to Blockbuster
in 1995.
They knew the national chain were interested in coming to Alice
Springs: "Although we were running an extremely good operation, we knew
we would lose some of our market share. As well as that, because of the
expansion of the recorded music business, we no longer had a family
member to monitor it.
"So, we approached Blockbuster and negotiated the sale, retaining them
as a tenant.
They run a very good operation and we're happy that they are next door
to us."
At the same time the Necks also refitted the showroom of Electricworld,
reasserting their presence at the Billygoat Hill site.
They had been a member of the Retravision buying group for 25 years,
but along with some 10 other South Australian members, resigned from
Retravision to join the Better buying group.
"We feel very comfortable with them because they give us a lot more
freedom in the way we merchandise," says Murray.
Jenny is now in charge of the computer side of the family's business:
"We have a very sophisticated computer system that runs our total
operation. We certainly couldn't run this business manually."
Jenny also has other responsibilities including staff training.
The four children, their mother Mary, and Murray make up the board of
directors, meeting almost every week to make changes as the need
arises.
"Nothing's forever," says Murray.
"Some decisions are easy, some are hard. We've made them in the past
and we'll have to make them in the future. The family will be taking
over. I've got eight grandsons and four granddaughters. No doubt some
of them will come into the business. We have a policy whereby if they
do, they've got to bring in some additional qualifications that none of
us have. They'll probably be sent away to get this technical specialist
knowledge that they'll bring back to this business and to the community
of Central Australia."
Last year was Murray's fiftieth year in the business. He was supposed
to be in semi-retirement but took on the supervision of the
installation of the AUSTAR antenna system.
Now, after some 2,000 installations, AUSTAR can be said to be well
established.
Maybe 1998 will see Murray once again roaming the hills and gullies of
his beloved MacDonnell Ranges.
"I've had an exciting 50 years in this industry and I'm very happy to
spend the rest of my time here and I think my children are as well."
What future does he see for the town?
A key issue for any expansion will be water, says Murray, with
supplementary surface storage becoming the rule of the day.
As for race relations, he is optimistic: "Generally speaking, we have a
pretty good working relationship with Aboriginal people here and there
are many positives.
"In the sporting area we associate very closely with them, we recognise
their skills in this area, and they have skills in other areas.
Indeed they have no peers in certain arts and crafts. I haven't ceased
to be amazed by their imagination."
Communication, he says, is the bottom line of peace and progress, here
as throughout the world.
The future of our global village will require goodwill to match the
undreamt of improvements brought about by the industry to which Murray
has dedicated his life.
MAX CARTWRIGHT REVIEWS COMMUNICATIONS IN THE CENTRE (Part Two)
The bombing of Darwin caused the removal of the Territory
Administration to Alice Springs, and the upgrading of the Stuart
Highway.
Local historian Max Cartwright continues tracing the development of
communications in the Centre, which, in the case of electronics
equipment, often went hand in hand with the development of Murray
Neck's business.
(See last week's issue for the first part of Mr
Cartwright's article.)
When peace was declared in 1945, the Administration returned to Darwin
and all schools in the Northern Territory came under the South
Australian Education Department, utilising their curriculum and
teachers.
By 1946, water was reticulated to the residents of Alice Springs and in
the absence of a newspaper Les Penall, Frank Gubbins and Janet Buchanan
printed and distributed, free of cost, a four page newsletter which
they called The Dead Heart?
After 30 issues, the newsletter ceased
publication and shortly after, on May 24, 1947, "Pop" Chapman, of The
Granites fame, founded the Centralian Advocate newspaper.
Also in 1947, Chapman applied for a broadcasting licence to establish a
radio station.
This was approved in principle but later rejected.
Although many people had various types of radio receivers, they were
only of use during nighttime hours.
This situation remained until Radio
5AL became a local broadcasting station in December 1948.
The first School of the Air lessons to students of the remote regions
of central Australia, were broadcast from the Flying Doctor base on
September 20, 1950.
Also in 1950, the face of Todd Street was to change
with an upsurge of new business premises.
In keeping with this trend,
the Neck family business increased its range of home electrical
appliances to a stage where they traded solely in this field.
To cater
for this, they built a larger store to the front of their original
premises on the northern end of Todd Street.
While on the Hatches Creek wolfram field in 1950, I bought a "Charles
Hope" Coldflame kerosene operated refrigerator from the family business
of D.B.Neck.
It cost £104 ($208). Wages being $25 per week, this
represented just over eight weeks' work.
Having been a customer of the Neck family business' for almost 50
years, may I congratulate the firm on their 60 years of progressive
enterprise and service to the residents of Central Australia.
DIAN BOOTH: A WORLD CLASS VIOLINIST LIVING IN THE ALICE. Review by KIERAN FINNANE.
Anyone keeping an eye on local performing arts would have realised
by now that Alice is graced with, in the person of Dian Booth, a fine
violinist, with a great talent for improvisation.
Where did this gifted musician with a slight English accent, an unusual
philosophical outlook and a seemingly unfailing energy spring from?
Dian grew up in the Blue Mountains and Sydney but always felt a
foreigner in the land of her birth.
She found herself most at home with
Central European Jewish immigrants: "They had an attitude towards music
and art that I resonated with.
It wasn't just that a piece of music was
something to fill in the background while you were chatting over a cup
of tea, or a painting something to fill up the space.
"These [works,
for them] were actually statements of the way life is, the way the
universe is, while for most other people with whom I was in contact
that wasn't the case."
Dian had always intended to become a professional musician and
graduated from the Sydney Conservatorium with a diploma in violin.
She
went on to take a degree in psychology, before migrating to England in
1969 where she began her involvement in the London music scene as
leader of the Royal Ballet Orchestra at Covent Garden.
At the same time she was looking for a way to bring her two lines of
training, psychology and music, together.
Music therapy, introduced by
the Nordoff-Robbins school in America and England at that time, didn't
feel right, and for a decade her desire to integrate the two strands of
her life was put on hold.
She worked as a psychologist in the intelligence and industrial fields
and in vocational guidance, until in 1980 she came into contact with
the healing world: "This gave me the 'in' I was looking for. The
psychology degree enabled me to talk to people and I could use my music
as part of the treatment process."
Dian went on to do some 14 years training with a guru in England, whose
practice was a mixture of Tibetan and Zen Buddhism, revised to suit
twentieth century Western needs.
In the meantime she started treating
clients, using a mixture of recorded classical music and colour.
She
would shine light from an old stage lamp, applying coloured filters,
onto the body and play recorded classical music.
Her first clients were fellow musicians, violinists and viola players,
whom she successfuly treated for shoulder pain.
Over the years she moved from using recorded music to the live sound of
her violin and of other instruments she had collected from indigenous
cultures around the world: "They have very powerful healing sounds
built into them, having been used for that purpose for many centuries."
The connection between colour and music, says Dian, was made in ancient
pre-pyramidal Egyptian culture, may well have been used in Mayan
culture, certainly in Indian culture and, in Europe, was revitalised by
the Greek philosopher Pythagoras.
Put simply, there is seen to be a
relationship arising from the measurable vibration patterns of both
sound and colour waves.
Says Dian: "All ancient indigenous cultures,
including the Australian ones, have held that, rather than the atom
being the smallest indivisible particle of matter, the only indivisible
elements are sound and light.
These two came first before any physical
manifestations.
"That thread has been running through human experience
forever.
We're just coming back into a period when it is being used quite
intensely."
To find out what colour or colours to use in a treatment, Dian uses an
amethyst pendulum: "I put myself aside, and open up to what that person
needs at the moment, so that there's a flow of energy, mental contact
if you like. Having dowsed the colours, I'll pick the instrument, which
is most
times the violin but my 50 other instruments can have things to offer."
Often there is a strong connection between a colour and a particular
note of the scale.
For Dian the relationship is not rigid but many
people believe that, for instance, red equals the note C, orange equals
D, yellow equals E and so on.
Dian says she has had success in treating in this way skin problems
such as herpes and eczema, stomach ulcers, even the malignancy of small
cancerous moles; however, she mostly sees people who are in some kind
of emotional or spiritual crisis, including some who seek her
assistance in preparation for dying, where, she says, sound and colour
are enormously helpful.
She says her healing work is in harmony with her music and artistic
interests: "I don't see too much of a difference. True art has always
been healing in its nature."
Indeed, improvising music in response to paintings and sculpture in
some important galleries in Britain led Dian to make another connection
in her healing work: via the work of landscape artists, it opened the
door to integrating natural elements in the healing process.
This was the path that finally brought Dian home: "I realised that I
needed to come back to Australia and live in this landscape and be in
contact with Aboriginal people who had that approach to healing.
"I also felt I needed to offer sound as as a reconciliation device.
Sound is an ideal tool because it cuts right across language and is
enormously simple in essence."
Through Aboriginal songwriter and educator Bob Randall, Dian has
received approval from Aboriginal people for her work and has been
given permission to use some Aboriginal-owned healing land.
This
response, as well as the support she receives from the enthusiastic
committee of the Alice Springs Strings Group - "an amount of support
that I've never had for any venture in my life," she says - combines to
make Dian feel very much at home in Alice Springs.
"Finding my home has been a lifetime journey," she says.