songs with mara, 1992
Songs with Mara, Meryl Tankard Company
photo Regis Lansac
Songs with Mara, Meryl Tankard Company
Songs with Mara featured Bulgarian songs sung by the company and led by Mara Kiek. The original cast featured five female dancers joined by musicians Mara and Lew Kiek. Through its fusion of dance, song and imagery Songs with Mara evoked the spirits and traditions of Eastern Europe. The work was revived in 1995 for Meryl Tankard Australian Dance Theatre when it featured an enlarged cast of both male and female dancers. [Text from Australia Dancing.]
credits: Meryl Tankard Company, choreography and direction Meryl Tankard, original performers Meryl Tankard, Paige Gordon, Amanda Rogers, Tuula Roppola and Michelle Ryan, design Regis Lansac, musicians Mara Kiek Lew Kiek; initial season was dedicated to the memory of Kelvin Coe.
performances: premiere Gorman House Arts Centre, Canberra, July 1992; Barossa Music Festival, October 1993; Playhouse, Adelaide Festival Centre, August 1995; Sydney Festival, January 1996; Playhouse, Melbourne, November 1997; Geelong, November 1997; Ballarat, November 1997
Songs with Mara, Meryl Tankard Company
photo Regis Lansac
Songs with Mara, Meryl Tankard Company
articles/reviews – realtime
a new song and dance
eleanor brickhIll, realtime 11, february-march 1996
video
documentary on Australian Screen
other
tankard takes a bold step reuniting sound with dance
robin grove, the age, august 15, 1995
Songs with Mara, Meryl Tankard Company
photo Regis Lansac
Songs with Mara, Meryl Tankard Company
tonnes of topsoil, and dancing’s bound to get dirty
miriam cosic, sydney morning herald, january 18, 1996
performance moves to the beat of a different drum
helen thomson, the age, january 19, 1996
high energy, high art
ken healey, sun herald, january 21, 1996
mara marches on
alison barclay, herald sun, october 29, 1997
meryl pushes the boundaries
blazenka brysha, herald sun, november 8, 1997
perfect full circle for tankard
alan brissenden, the australian, august 10, 1998
a seduction of the senses
michelle potter, canberra times, august 19, 1998
the impossibilities of the dance body: the work of meryl tankard
adrian kiernander, body show/s: australian viewings of live performance, ed. peta tait, amsterdam: rodopi press, 2000, pp. 205-216
