The NAISDA Dance College (usually referred to as simply NAISDA) is a performing arts training college based in Kariong, New South Wales for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia. It was established as the Aboriginal Islander Skills Development Scheme (AISDS) in 1975, which became the National Aboriginal and Islander Skills Development Association (NAISDA) in 1988. The date of establishment of the college is usually cited as 1976, although some sources report it as 1975. The dance troupe Aboriginal Islander Dance Theatre (AIDT) arose in 1976 from AISDS, from which several dancers and choreographers went on to form Bangarra Dance Theatre. History 1975–1999 The Aboriginal/ Islander Skills Development Scheme was founded by African American dancer Carole Johnson in 1975. She had toured Australia, performing in Adelaide and Sydney, in 1972, as part of the Eleo Pomare Dance Company of New York City, and was commissioned by the Australia Council for the Arts to run dance classes for Aboriginal people in Sydney. After a display performance of Indigenous dance at the Black Theatre in 1975 there was a six-week workshop, the Six Weeks Performing Arts Training Programme, held in Redfern. A performance by Pastor Brady's Yelangi Dance Company and Stephen Mam's Torres Strait Island or Waiben Dancers opened the workshop. Tutors included Johnson (contemporary dance); Eddie Pau and Henry Peters (traditional dance of the Torres Strait Islands and Mornington Island); Brian Syron, with Ann Swan (drama); and others who taught speech, sound and lighting, karate, and writing. The participants in the workshop included John Bayles, Euphemia Bostock, Laurel Briggs, Fred Buckskin, Irene Casey, Betty Colbund, Aileen Corpus, Lillian Crombie, Jack Davis, Christine Donnelly, Elizabeth Duncan, Ros Forgan, Monica Hoffman, Yvette Isaacs, Andrew Jackomos, Rhona Keys, Pearl King, Lorraine Mafi, Shireen Malamoo, Hylus Maris, Zac Martin, Wayne Nicol, Dorathea Randall, Fred Reynolds, Ralph Rigby, Cherie (Cheryl) Stone (co-founder of Bangarra Dance Theatre), Georgina Telfer, Maureen Watson, Roslyn Watson, and Darryl Williams. After the workshop, a three-year professional course called "Careers in Dance" was created. Preliminary funding for three months was provided by the Department of Education. The Aboriginal Islander Skills Development Scheme was established in 1975 to train Indigenous Australians in dance. It arose from a collaboration of choreographers trained in Western dance styles and cultural custodians of traditional Aboriginal dance, led by Carole Johnson. Its first intake of students, who started in October 1975, were Lillian Crombie, Wayne Nicol, Michael