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In
February 1983, David Bowie
sought two young actors to
star in the video for the lead
single of his upcoming album Let's
Dance.
He visited Sydney's Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islanders
Dance Theatre and at this time
Terry Roberts and Joelene King
were students.
Terry and Joelene successfully
auditioned for the video
(Stephen Page - now the
director of Bangara - also
auditioned).
The Let's Dance song
and album became the biggest
smash hit of Bowie's career
and in 2010, Bowie Downunder
caught up with Joelene King:
"I am over the moon
that people still remember
'Let's Dance'. It was a
wonderful experience for me
and a wonderful time in my
life, dancing in the company
with other aboriginals,
being on stage - oh my God.
WOW...
I met some beautiful and
talented people, thank you,
I remembered the best time
of my life the 80's was
great. Now I am just living,
working, doing normal things
:). Anyway I've had my '15
minutes of fame' :)".
At the time of filming,
Joelene was only 22 years old
and remembers being painfully
shy:
"I remember looking
into his eyes and seeing he
was a very warm-hearted
person. That sort of brought
me out of my shell, in a
way. He was a wonderful
person to be around."
King says that both her and
Terry received $1000 for five
days work but more exciting
than being paid was simply
being in the video.
Bowie also donated $10,000 to
the dance school.
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Above: Bowie with
Stephen Page and Joelene King
in 1983.
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Serious Moonlight Tour
(Backstage)
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Later
that year when David Bowie
returned for the Serious
Moonlight concert tour
(November 1983), he provided
Joelene and Terry VIP access.
"We went backstage
before he performed. Straight
away he said 'Hi Jo' and gave
me a great big hug. He was
very friendly, humble, family
orientated, affectionate and
loving. "
~ Joelene King
Did you attend Bowie's 1983
Sydney shows? Read a whole lot
more about that on
our dedicated page. You
can also check out some amazing
pictures (including the one on
the left) taken by BDU audience
member Geoff Schuck. |

Above:
Bowie and Joelene on the
Sydney road known as Broadway
- one of the sets of Let's
Dance.
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Terry
and Joelene were allowed to
keep mementos from the Lets
Dance shoot.
To this day, Joelene still has
the dress she wore in the
video (depicted proudly on the
left by Joelene).
The famous "red shoes" (the
main symbol representing white
capitalist oppression),
however, have not been seen
since the 1980s!
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The Fall of Terry Roberts
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Although
Joelene now leads a life in
suburban Sydney and was
successfully contacted by the
media (starting with Bowie
Downunder in 2010), it would
appear that the later movements
of Terry are more sketchy.
According to an
item reposted on the AAAstuff
website (the original item
labelled as being posted in 2003
on austrep.com website), Terry
suffered a life
encompassing health
problems and potential
government neglect.
Given the details to emerge from
the Terry Roberts story and the
love we have for everyone
involved in David Bowie's music,
this sounds like nothing short
of an absolute tragedy. |

Above:
Terry Roberts and Joelene
King. Photo by Patrick Jones.
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Indigenous History and Art
History
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David
Bowie's 'Let’s Dance' video was
a direct statement against
racism. It highlighted the
plight of aboriginals through
popular music THREE YEARS before
the formation of Yothu Yindi. It
also predated the central focus
of aboriginal rights presented
by Midnight Oil.
In 2006, the Let's Dance video
found a place among Australia's
indigenous art history when it
appeared as a special video
installation at The Museum and
Art Gallery of the Northern
Territory. This was for the 23rd
Telstra National Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islanders
Art Award.
In 2013, Joelene King said:
"We didn't know how
significant the song was.
David Bowie had made so many
videos that were 'out there'.
So I didn't foresee it would
be so influential to
Aboriginal people, so
inspiring for them to see one
of their own up there on TV.''
In 2015, the David Bowie Is
exhibit came to Melbourne and
coinciding with this were some
events at the Koorie Heritage
Trust located beside ACMI at
Federation Square. These
included Dead
Tongue - a video
installation responding to
themes in the work of David
Bowie and also some talks:
Let's
Dance: In Between the
Message and the Medium.
In 2016, the First Nations
entry in the Sydney Gay
and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade included
a tribute to the video.
This was in recognition of the
global exposure the clip gave to
discrimination experienced by
Australia’s Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander peoples. |
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