Dorathea was one of the founding members of the Aboriginal Islander Skills Development Scheme (AISDS, now NAISDA).

She performed with the Aboriginal Islander Dance Theatre, and became a teacher of Aboriginal dance and public speaker on Aboriginal Culture. She has researched traditional dance styles from areas of the Northern Territory and Mornington Island, such as Morning Star, Sunset, Crow, Seagull, Butterfly, Devil, Pelican, and Eagle, and dances depicting fruit picking and hunting. She has experimented with technique to develop a style that fuses modern dance with Traditional movements. She has performed with One Extra Dance Company and was Assistant Artistic Coordinator for “Women and Arts” festival, Nimrod Theatre and NSW Arts Gallery. Dorathea was a teacher and choreographer with Dance Connections in Darwin, and in 1988 was employed by the Aboriginal Education Consultative Committee to develop schools programmes for Canberra teachers on Aboriginal culture, music and dance.

Dorathea was founder and Director of Gloworms, an Aboriginal Children’s dance group. She has worked as choreographer and teacher of the new fusion technique with Bangarra Dance Theatre, and as a choreographer and dancer with Dinawan Koori Productions. She was Indigenous Choreographer in Residence with Tracks in 1992, 1994 and 1995, and worked with Tracks on the 1995 Yipirinya project – Yipirinya After the Rain.

Updated 12/12/1995