Guide to the Papers of Meryl Tankard

MS 9940

National Library of Australia


Date completed: March 2006
Last updated: July 2007


Collection Summary

Creator: Tankard, Meryl, 1955 -
Title: Papers of Meryl Tankard
Date Range: 1975-2002
Collection Number: MS 9940
Extent: 6.46 m (21 boxes + 12 folio boxes) + 2 items in Map Drawer
Repository: National Library of Australia

Introduction

Scope and Content

This collection documents Meryl Tankard's career as a dancer, performer, choreographer and artistic director from her early engagement with The Australian Ballet and her work with the Pina Bausch Tanztheater Wuppertal to her later independent and collaborative freelance projects up until 2002.

The collection includes programs, press clippings, photographs and conceptual and production notes for works created by Tankard, particularly Echo Point (1984), Travelling Light (1986), Two Feet (1988), The Deep End (1996) and Deep Sea Dreaming (2000) for the Sydney Olympics opening ceremony.

A significant component of the collection is business documents and correspondence relating to the activities of the Meryl Tankard Company and Meryl Tankard Australian Dance Theatre.

Arrangement

The collection has been organised to retain the arrangement of the donor where possible.

Access

The collection is partly restricted and partly closed. Series 4 (Folders 1-3) and Series 5 (Folders 4-9, 23-29) are closed for 50 years after Tankard's death. Access to the remainder of the collection is restricted, and written permission is required to use this material.

Provenance

The Meryl Tankard Papers were acquired by the Library from Meryl Tankard through the Cultural Gifts Program in 2003. Tankard has retained papers documenting her career from 2002 until the present.

Copying and Publishing

Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions. For such material, written permission to publish must be obtained from the copyright holder(s). Copying of unpublished material for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material.

Related Material

Manuscripts:

Records, 1984-1992, Meryl Tankard Company (MS 9264)

Benesh movement notation of Nuti, 1989-1990 Meryl Tankard (MS 8309)

Records, 1979-1988, Human Veins Dance Theatre (MS 7629)

Oral History:

Interview with Meryl Tankard, choreographer, artistic director (1999) Interviewer: Michelle Potter (ORAL TRC 3939)

Interview with Meryl Tankard, dancer and choreographer (1990) Interviewer: Shirley McKechnie (ORAL TRC 2602)

Pictures:

Portraits of Meryl Tankard in 1984 and 1988 and scenes from Meryl Tankard Company productions 1989-1992 / Régis Lansac (PIC P503/1-27 P570/1-3 LOC Drawer S7)

Wild Swans, performed by The Australian Ballet at the Victorian Arts Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, June 2003 / Régis Lansac (nla.pic-vn3079011)

Ephemera:

Tankard, Meryl (choreographer) : programs and related material collected by the National Library of Australia (PROMPT Ephemera)

Meryl Tankard Company : programs and related material collected by the National Library of Australia (PROMPT Ephemera)

Preferred Citation

Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Meryl Tankard, National Library of Australia, MS 9940, [series and folder number]'.

Biographical Note

Meryl Tankard was born in Darwin but took her first dance lessons in Melbourne after moving there as a young child. Tankard took classes in Newcastle and then in Sydney before being accepted into The Australian Ballet School at the end of 1973.

Tankard began her professional career as a dancer with The Australian Ballet at the end of 1975, choreographing her first work, Birds Behind Bars for a workshop program titled Dance Horizons in 1977.

Tankard's greatest early successes as a performer, however, came during the time she spent in Germany with Pina Bausch and her Tanztheater Wuppertal between 1978 and 1984. Tankard was a principal artist with Bausch and toured extensively with the company. She created roles in several of Bausch's best-known works, including Cafe Muller, Kontakthof, Arien, Keuschettslegende, 1980, Walzer and Bandoneon. In Germany Tankard also worked with the medium of film. In 1980 she played the leading role in Quak fur Donald Mit Lieben Gruss, which was filmed in Munich and Disneyland and screened on German television, and in 1982 she co-wrote and performed in Sydney an der Wupper, a 45 minute film that was awarded the Gold Film Band at the 1983 Berlin Film Festival.

After leaving Bausch, Tankard divided her time between Australia and Europe for a number of years. In Europe she guested with Bausch's company and danced with Lindsay Kemp. In Australia she made Echo Point in 1984 and in 1986 worked on Robyn Archer's television production of The Pack of Women and in the television serial Dancing Daze. In 1986 she also devised and directed Travelling Light . In 1988 she created her evening-length solo work Two Feet, which marked a major turning point in the creative collaboration she had established with photographer and visual artist Régis Lansac whom she had met in the mid 1980s. Lansac created slide projections to accompany Two Feet and continued to develop this aspect of the collaboration in ensuing years.

In 1989 Tankard took up directorship of a small company in Canberra, which she named the Meryl Tankard Company. Works made in Canberra included Banshee (1989), VX18504 (1989), Nuti (1990), Kikimora (1990), Court of Flora (1990), Chants de mariage I and II (1991-1992), and Songs with Mara (1992). While working in Canberra Tankard also revived Echo Point and Two Feet, collaborated with the theatre director Pierre Bokor on Circo (1991), created choreography for Opera Australia's Death in Venice (1989) and made Sloth as part of Seven Deadly Sins, a program of seven works from seven contemporary Australian choreographers filmed by the ABC and screened in 1993.

After four years in Canberra, Tankard moved to Adelaide to take on the directorship of Australian Dance Theatre. For Meryl Tankard Australian Dance Theatre, Tankard reworked some of the pieces she had made in Canberra. New works created in Adelaide included Furioso (1993), Aurora (1994), Possessed (1995), Rasa (1996), which was made in collaboration with Padma Menon, Seulle (1997) and Inuk (1997). While in Adelaide she also choreographed The Deep End (1996) for The Australian Ballet and her second work for Opera Australia, Orphee et Euridyce.

Tankard left Adelaide in 1998 after a dispute with the Company's Board and began a career as a freelance choreographer. Her commissions since then have come from a diverse range of sources. In 1998 she made Bolero for the Lyon Opera Ballet and in 2000 Tankard created Deep Sea Dreaming for the Olympic opening ceremony and The Beautiful Game for Andrew Lloyd Webber. In 2002 she and Lansac created Merryland, a work for Nederlands Dance Theater III. Wild Swans (2003) was a joint commission from The Australian Ballet and the Sydney Opera House.

Reference(s):
Australia Dancing http://www.australiadancing.org.
Meryl Tankard Australian Dance Theatre entry http://www.australiadancing.org/subjects/44.html.



Series List and Descriptions

Series 1 The Australian Ballet, 1975-1978

This series consists of material relating to Tankard's work with The Australian Ballet, which she joined in 1975. The cuttings scrapbook highlights performances by the Ballet during this period, including those in which Tankard was involved, and articles about dancers within the company, particularly Maina Gielgud. The sketchbooks contain sketches and notes for Tankard's first major choreographic work, Birds Behind Bars (1977), which she created for a workshop program, Dance Horizons. Tankard left The Australian Ballet in 1978.

Item 1 Scrapbook of press cuttings and programs relating to The Australian Ballet, labelled 'Australian Ballet Seasons'
Item 2 Three sketchbooks: The Australian Ballet and Birds Behind Bars (1977).
Item 3 The Australian Ballet program for Two Pigeons and Monotones (1975) in which Tankard performed. Studio photographs of The Merry Widow (1976) and Birds Behind Bars (1977), 1975-1977

Series 2 Pina Bausch Tanztheater Wuppertal, 1978-1984

Tankard joined Pina Bausch Tanztheater Wuppertal in 1978. The bulk of the series consists of writings about Pina Bausch and her company featured in magazines and press clippings, as well as programs of performances. Images of Tankard feature prominently within this material. There are also six notebooks which set out logistical and choreographic details, costume sketches and dialogue relating to various works, together with documents relating to a television drama Quak Fur Donald Mit Lieber Gruss (1980) and a German film titled Sydney an der Wupper (1982), both starring Tankard.

Tankard continued to feature as a guest artist with Pina Bausch Tanztheater until 1988.

Series 3, Item 12 contains a small amount of material relating to work with Pina Bausch Tanztheater, 1977.

Folder 1 Performance notes and schedules, articles, ca. 1978-1984
Folder 2-3 Press clippings, ca. 1978-1984
Folder 4 Programs and clippings from Adelaide Festival of the Arts (1982) and Olympic Arts Festival (1984), 1982-1984
Folder 5-6 Programs, ca. 1978-1984
Folder 7-9 Magazines featuring articles about Pina Bausch Tanztheater, ca. 1978-1984
Folder 10 Material relating to the film Sydney an der Wupper (1982)
Folder 11 Photographs, clippings and notes relating to television drama Quak Fur Donald Mit Lieber Gruss (1980)
Folder 12-14 Six notebooks
Folder 15 Photographic book titled Applausfotos, 1984

Series 3 Early independent and collaborative projects, ca. 1984-1988

This series documents choreographic works created by Tankard in this first major period of independent activity, including conceptual and production notes and sketches, correspondence and cast information, clippings and promotional material. Documents relating to Echo Point (1984, restaged 1989) and Travelling Light (1986) form the most comprehensive part of this series. Also represented is material relating to Tankard's work choreographing for fashion parades, film and television.

Items in this series relating to Tankard's choreography for fashion parades range from 1977-1989. Items relating to her work with Hermes range from 1987-1994.

See Research Materials in Series 7 in relation to Two Feet (1988).

Folder 1 Research material, notes and budget information for unrealised production 'Three Sisters,' later titled Echo Point (1984)
Folder 2 Concept notes for Echo Point (1984)
Folder 3 Press clippings: Echo Point (1984, restaged 1989)
Folder 4 Lever arch file containing synopsis, cast resumes, promotional material and program, copies of press clippings for Echo Point (1984, restaged 1989)
Folder 5 Press clippings: Dancing Daze, 1985-1986
Folder 6 Photographs, concept notes, programs and promotional material for Travelling Light (1986)
Folder 7 Notebook, Travelling Light (1986)
Folder 8 Production notes, Travelling Light (1986). Material transferred from plastic ring binder
Folder 9 Documents relating to lawsuit against Kinselas regarding Travelling Light (1986)
Folder 10 Lever arch file of production notes, budget, cast information and press clippings, Travelling Light (1986)
Folder 11 Press clippings: Travelling Light (1986) and Pack of Women (1986)
Folder 12 Lever arch file with sections marked Midsummer Nights Dream (1985), King of Country (1986), Dancing Daze (1985), Pack of Women (1986), Elegy (1987), Veneer (1988), Jacob's Pillow and Wuppertal
Folder 13 Notebook, Veneer (1987)
Folder 14 Documents relating to participation at Next Wave Festival, Brooklyn Academy of Music (1987) and Jacob's Pillow (1988)
Folder 15 Programs, correspondence, notes and cast information for Queen Victoria Building fashion parades, 1987-1988, and clippings and programs for various other fashion parades, 1977-1989
Folder 16 Sketchbook, Intercoiffure International Conference Show, Tokyo, 1978
Folder 17 Lever arch file: Fashion parades and launches, 1985-1988. Notes and cast information for choreography in film Around the World in 80 Ways (1985). Includes photographs .
Folder 18 Work with Hermes, 1987, 1990, 1994
Folder 19 Sketchbook, one woman show later titled Two Feet (1988)
Folder 20 Envelope of items labelled 'Research materials for Two Feet'
Folder 21 Clippings, press release and correspondence relating to Two Feet (1988)

Series 4 Meryl Tankard Company, 1989-1992

In 1989 Tankard became artistic director of the Meryl Tankard Company in Canberra. This series consists of a small amount of material relating to the Meryl Tankard Company, including artistic director and administration reports, policy documents and board minutes. Also included is a company portfolio, which contains information and images of various works in a display folder. Tankard left Canberra at the end of 1992 to take on the artistic directorship of the Australian Dance Theatre.

Further details can be found in Records, 1984-1992, Meryl Tankard Company (MS 9264)

Folder 1 Policy documents, meeting agendas and minutes, documents regarding Friends of the company, 1989-1992
Folder 2 Marketing and staffing documents, financial statements, grant applications,, 1989-1992
Folder 3 Correspondence and documents relating to arts in Canberra, 1989-1992
Folder 4 Company portfolio: programs, clippings, photographs and outlines of works, 1989-1992
Folder 6 Press clippings, programs and promotional material, 1989-1992

VX18504 audition material and press kit, 1989.

Folder 7 Documents and press kit relating to 1989 Japan tour

Series 5 Meryl Tankard Australian Dance Theatre, 1992-1999

In 1992 Tankard became artistic director of Australian Dance Theatre in Adelaide, subsequently renamed Meryl Tankard Australian Dance Theatre. This series consists of correspondence and documents relating to the business activities of the company, including agendas, minutes, budgets and director's reports. Major correspondents include Sylvie Guillam, Didier Le Besque, Melsine Grevesmühl, Christian Haag, Justice Margaret Nyland and Anthony Steel.

The 1998 dispute between Tankard and the company's Board is documented through Tankard's personal notes and correspondence with her management company, Board members, company staff and the South Australian Minister for the Arts, Diana Laidlaw, as well as letters of support, copies of debate in South Australian Legislative Council and the 1998 deed of termination between Australian Dance Theatre and Tankard.

Folder 1 Programs and publicity material, 1992-1999
Folder 2 Miniatures (1996), promotional material and choreographic notes
Folder 3 Performance schedules, 1993-1998
Folder 4 Company business, 1992-1993
Folder 5 Company business, 1993-1994
Folder 6 Company business, 1995-1996
Folder 7 Company business, 1996-1997
Folder 8 Lever arch file: Board meetings, 1997
Folder 9 Company business, 1998
Folder 10 Contacts and mailing lists
Folder 11 Correspondence, 1995
Folder 12 Correspondence, 1997
Folder 13 Correspondence, 1998

Contains folder labelled 'Sylvie '98' and 'Didier '98'.

Folder 14 Correspondence, 1999
Folder 15 Relations with Australia Council, 1993
Folder 16 Correspondence with Lyon Opera Ballet, 1996-1997. Letters of support for Possessed (1998), 1996-1998
Folder 17-18 Letters of support, 1998
Folder 19-20 Display folder: press clippings, thank you and congratulatory letters, 1992-1998
Folder 21-22 Press clippings, 1992-1998
Folder 23 Press clippings regarding dispute with Board, 1998
Folder 24 Display folio of press clippings relating to dispute with Board, 1998-1999
Folder 25 Display folio of press clippings relating to dispute with Board. Includes two photographs, 1998-1999
Folder 26 Papers relating to dispute with Board, 1998-1999

Includes folders labelled 'L'inquisition' and 'Dead' and broadsheet announcement in The Advertiser newspaper.

Folder 27 Papers relating to dispute with Board, 1998-1999

Includes deed of termination between Tankard and the company.

Folder 28 Miscellaneous papers and correspondence including material relating to dispute with Board.

One folder labelled 'Christian' contains correspondence with Christian Haag.

Folder 29 Documents relating to India tour, 1996-1997

Folder containing offers for overseas touring.

Folder 30-31 Schedules and correspondence relating to Japan tour, 1998
Folder 32 Documents relating to European tour, 1998, and Indonesian tour
Folder 33 Oversized program of performance of Furioso in Germany, 1999

Series 6 Freelance work, ca. 1989-2001

This series contains material relating to various works created by Tankard such as The Deep End (1996) for The Australian Ballet, Bolero (1998) for Lyon Opera Ballet, her choreography for Opera Australia's Death in Venice (1989) and for Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Beautiful Game (2000), as well as Deep Sea Dreaming (2000), which she created for the Sydney Olympics opening ceremony.

The Deep End (1996) and Deep Sea Dreaming (2000) are particularly well represented through production notes, correspondence and press clippings.

Folder 1 Programs and clippings, Death in Venice (1989)
Folder 2 Costume and production notes and sketches, The Deep End (1996)
Folder 3 Production notes, correspondence and schedules, The Deep End (1996). In display folder
Folder 4 Sketchbooks, The Deep End (1996)
Folder 5 Programs, clippings and stage diagram, The Deep End (1996)
Folder 6 Oversized congratulatory card, The Deep End (1996)

Envelope also contains birthday card from Régis Lansac.

Folder 7 Notebook, The Blue Angel (1998)
Folder 8 Documents relating to The Blue Angel (1998)

Includes cast photographs, costume sketches and music lists. In display folder.

Folder 9 Program, The Blue Angel (1998)
Folder 10 Press clippings, Bolero (1998), Lyon Opera Ballet
Folder 11-13 Production notes, Deep Sea Dreaming (2000). In display folder
Folder 14 Press clippings, contact lists, correspondence, photographs, Deep Sea Dreaming (2000)
Folder 15 Display folio of press clippings, Deep Sea Dreaming (2000)
Folder 16 Notebook, The Beautiful Game (2000)
Folder 17 Cards, clippings, production notes, The Beautiful Game (2000)
Folder 18 Display folio of press clippings, The Beautiful Game (2000)
Folder 19 Programs, reviews, Merryland (2002), Nederlands Dans Theater III. Program, Nuti, Ballet Gulbenkian, 2001

Series 7 Personal documents, ca. 1975-2002

This series contains personal documents collected by Tankard, including greeting cards and a small amount of correspondence, as well as magazines and programs. A component of this series is photocopied research material.

Research on Annette Kellerman and Olga Spessivtzeva may have been used as source material for the work Two Feet (1988). See Series 3 for further details about this production.

Folder 1 General correspondence from single correspondents (small amount), 1977-1996

Including letters from Nikki Tankard, Peter Crosbie, Belvoir St. Theatre and Ausdance.

Folder 2 Greeting cards, mostly undated
Folder 3 Schedules, contact lists, ID badges, tickets, resume, ca. 1982
Folder 4 Miscellaneous sketches and writings
Folder 5 Course notes from film and video course, 1990. Acting scripts
Folder 6 Documents relating to awards

Includes program from 2001 Helpmann Awards.

Folder 7 Magazines, articles, clippings featuring Meryl Tankard, 1984-2001
Folder 8 Miscellaneous sketchbook and oversized magazine
Folder 9 Documents relating to ABC documentary Creative Spirits and unrealised project '36 000 Wishes'
Folder 10 Research material relating to Annette Kellerman
Folder 11 Research material relating to Lola Montez, Anna Pavlova and Olga Spessivtzeva
Folder 12 Research material relating to Indian dance
Folder 13-14 Miscellaneous research material
Folder 15 Miscellaneous press clippings
Folder 16 Magazines, general, 1956-1981
Folder 17 Magazines, general, 1996-1997
Folder 18-19 Programs, general, 1976-2002
Folder 20 Miscellaneous items, including t-shirts for the Meryl Tankard Company, publications and promotional material, 1979-2002

Series 8 Posters, ca. 1989-1998

Folder 1 14 posters for a variety of productions including Furioso (Lyon, 1998), Songs with Mara (Germany 1997), Nuti and Kikimora (Melbourne), Possessed (Adelaide, 1998) and Two Feet (Canberra)

Series 9 Audio-visual material, 1990-2000

This series consists of numerous spool tapes and videos. The spool tapes contain music used for performances choreographed by Tankard and the videos are of performances. Exceptions include a documentary about Tankard and videos of interviews, award ceremonies, and Tankard conducting auditions.



Container List

Series Folder/item Box
1 1-2 Folio Box 1
1 3 1
2 1-4 1
2 5-7 2
2 8-11 3
2 12-14 4
2 15 Folio Box 1
3 1-3 5
3 4 Folio Box 1
3 5 5
3 6-8 6
3 9 7
3 10 Folio Box 2
3 11 7
3 12 Folio Box 2
3 13-15 7
3 16-17 Folio Box 3
3 18-19 8
3 20 Folio Box 1
3 21 8
4 1-3 9 (closed)
4 4 8
4 5-7 10
5 1-3 10
5 4-7 11 (closed)
5 8 Folio Box 12 (closed)
5 9 11 (closed)
5 10-12 12
5 13-18 13
5 19-20 Folio Box 4
5 21-22 13
5 23 14 (closed)
5 24-25 Folio Box 12 (closed)
5 26-29 14 (closed)
5 30-32 15
5 33 Folio Box 4
6 1-3 16
6 4 Folio Box 5
6 5 16
6 6 Folio Box 5
6 7-12 17
6 13-14 18
6 15 Folio Box 5
6 16-17 18
6 18 Folio Box 5
6 19 18
7 1-5 19
7 6-7 20
7 8 Folio Box 6
7 9 20
7 10-13 Folio Box 6
7 14 Map Drawers
7 15-16 20
7 17-19 21
7 20 Folio Box 7
8 1 Map Drawers
9 All Folio Boxes 8-11