Meryl Tankard - click here to go home
Bio

Early Days...

Meryl Tankard was born in Darwin , but moved frequently across the region due to her father's air force career. She spent her early years in Penang (Malaysia), Melbourne and Newcastle, acquiring a taste for change and adventure which was to pattern her entire career.

As a young child Tankard chose ballet over basket-weaving as an 'after school activity" at the local town hall and discovered a talent, despite the rigours of the teaching regime. She recalls being fined twenty cents every time a strand of hair escaped her chignon recalls the "pain, denial and obstacles" of her introduction to dance.

Despite this fierce introduction, Tankard entered the Australian Ballet school and from there the company in 1975. Her first piece, Birds Behind Bars,a humorous spoof on feminism won her a prize which enabled her to take a trip to Europe to learn more about the thriving European dance scene.

From Ballet to Bausch...

Her life took a radical new direction when she encountered the work of German choreographer Pina Bausch.Tankard joined Bausch's Wuppertaler Tanztheater and enjoyed a distinguished career for a number of years as one of Bausch's leading performers .There she was offered many creative opportunities and alongside creating leading roles in landmark productions such as Cafe Muller, Kontakthof ,Walzer , Bandoneon, Arien, 1980 and Keuscheitslegende , amongst others, she also dabbled in film. In 1983 she co-wrote and starred in the 50 minute film Sydney an der Wupper which was awarded a gold film band at the Berlin Film Festival.

After many years at the peak of her game, Tankard felt the need to create her own work. On a tour to Australia in 1983 Tankard's homesickness hit and a year later she left Bausch's company.

Return to Oz...

After leaving Bausch, Tankard returned to Australia to take up a range of projects. She freelanced for a few years, undertaking projects in Australia and Europe. During this time she created what were to become signature pieces of distinctive choreography such as Two Feet , Echo Point and Traveling Light. She built up a relationship with Hermes Paris , creating many original events in Sydney involving dance , fashion and 'living' windows . Meryl also returned to Pina's company many times and performed as a guest for major tours including the company's premiere at BAM New York and LA Olympics Arts Festival etc. She also performed with Lindsay Kemp's company in Italy and South America

A company in Canberra...

In 1989 Tankard founded her dance company in Canberra and created and produced VX18504, Nuti , Kikimora , Banshee, Court of Flora ,Songs with Mara and Chants de Mariage I and II. The company toured to Japan, Italy, Indonesia and China. During this period, Tankard synthesized the range of influences from her early career to create a dance theatre style all her own. She has continued to build a repertoire of work with a thread of dynamic movement, strong emotional content, commitment to design and innovation in staging, which is all her own.Collaborating with photographer Regis Lansac she began developing original techniques using photographic and video projections and designed her own costumes and sets

And Adelaide...

From 1993-99 she took up the reigns of Adelaide based Australian Dance Theatre, (ADT) and created an illustrious list of productions for this ground-breaking company. Works include Furioso, Aurora, O Let me Weep, Seulle, Rasa, Inuk and Possessed. ADT toured Europe, USA, Asia ,and Australia and performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (New York), Het Musik Theater (Amsterdam), Sadlers Wells (London), Aoyama Theater in Tokyo and Aarhus Music Theatre (Denmark). Inuk was awarded Best Production at the International Summer Festival in Hamburg. During this time Tankard also made The Deep End (1996) for The Australian Ballet and choreographedThe Blue Angel (1998) for Horipro Productions in Tokyo

Furioso is perhaps the signature work which best summarises Tankard's success. This is a complex production which uses aerial choreography to stunning effect and yet avoids gimmickery and short-cuts to pack a strong emotional punch. The international success of this work is constantly in demand for re-staging, is testimony to the artistic energy of Tankard's reign at ADT and her ongoing connection to the Australian dance scene.

Work on Screen...

Upon her return to Australia from Europe, Tankard starred in the Australian ABC TV series Dancing Daze, produced by Jan Chapman and directed in part by Jane Campion. She also starred, alongside Judy Conneli and Jo Kennedy, in Robyn Archer's Pack of Women which was translated to television. She was later the subject of the hour long documentary The Black Swan, directed by Michelle Mahrer and produced by Don Featherstone. This was awarded Best of Show at the Dance on Camera Festival in New York in 1995. Her Wild Swans and The Deep End for the Australian Ballet were both televised on the ABC and Meryl was the subject of an hour long documentary on the making of Wild Swans. In 2005, Meryl produced the choreography for Ana Kokinos' feature film The Book of Revelation.

Freelance again...

After six busy years at ADT, Tankard embarked upon commissions from some of the world's most dynamic dance companies. Works include Bolero (1999) for the Lyon Opera Ballet; Merryland (2001) for Netherlands Dance Theatre 3; @North. (2004) for Berlin Ballet Komische Oper and Petrushka (2004) for Netherlands Dance Theatre 1. In 2003 she created Wild Swans ( a full-length ballet) for the Australian Ballet, with a new score by Elena Kats-Chernin.

Opera, musicals and high profile commissions...

Tankard conceived, directed and choreographed Deep Sea Dreaming for the Opening Ceremony of the Sydney Olympic Games 2000.

She choreographed Ocean Dance for His Holiness the Dalai Lama at his Tribute Concert at the Sydney Opera House.

In 2001 Tiffany and Co. New York commissioned Tankard to create Living Oceans to coincide with The Pearl Exhibition at the Museum of Natural History in New York and the Field Museum in Chicago.

The Tiffany commission developed into Pearl for the Sydney Opera House thirtieth birthday celebrations.

In 2001 her choreography for Andrew Lloyd Webber's Musical The Beautiful Game (2000) won a nomination for a Laurence Olivier Award.

Tankard created the choreography for Disney's Tarzan on Broadway in 2006. Tankard has worked with the Australian Opera, choreographing Death in Venice and Orphee and Eurydice. (which won the Age award for Best Collaboration )

Recent Work

In 2007 the Sydney opera House commissioned Meryl to create 'Kaidan' for the Sydney Festival .She collaborated with one of Australia's most exciting percussion groups 'Taikoz' .Based on an Japanese folk legend it tells the story of the soul of a woman embodied in a mirror and uses Regis Lansac's sumptuous projections Kaidan, sold out its entire Sydney Opera House season for Sydney Festival 2007. Her most recent production 'Inuk2" was created for Sydney Dance Company in March this year. Inuk2 played to enthusiastic houses in Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne.

Meryl is currently working with Australian Theatre for Young People on VX18504 which will open at Carriage Works in Sydney on July23rd and run till August 2nd

Awards and Accolades...

Tankard was named Canberran of the Year in 1992. In 1993, she was the recipient of the Sydney Myer Music Award for Individual Achievement. In 2002 she received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Australian Dance Awards.

In 2001 she was nominated for a Olivier Award in London and received a Helpmann Award for costume design (with Dan Potra) for the Olympic Ceremony. Tankard was awarded the Centenary Medal for her contribution to Australian Arts in 2003. In 2004 Tankard was awarded a two year Creative Fellowship Grant from Australia Council to develop projects with composer Elena Kats- Chernin.