Kikimora (1990 - )

Lansac, Regis: Meryl Tankard in a study for 'Kikimora', Meryl Tankard Company, 1990

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Kikimora, with choreography by Meryl Tankard, premiered in Canberra at Gorman House Arts Centre on 30 June 1990. The original cast consisted of dancers of the Meryl Tankard Company: Alison Brazier, Carmela Care, Paige Gordon, Roz Hervey and Leisa Shelton. Visual design and photography was by Regis Lansac, costumes by Gaelle Mellis and lighting by Geoff Cobham. Music was drawn from 16th and 17th century English and French court music, featuring in particular My Lady Carey's Dompe, and ancient and traditional music from Hungary and Transylvania.

The intitial inspiration for Tankard's Kikimora came from Mikhail Larionov's make-up for Bronislava Nijinska in Leonide Massine's ballet Kikimora, which was made for Serge Diaghilev in 1916, and from photographs by Regis Lansac of dolls in James Warwick's Old Curiosity Shop in Ballarat, Victoria. The Tankard work drew parallels between the Russian folklore character, the kikimora (tiny witches with a cruel sense of humour), and little girls.

Kikimora was reworked for a larger cast for the Meryl Tankard Australian Dance Theatre. The work toured, in both its original form until 1992, and in its reworked form from 1993 onwards, throughout Australia and to Asia and Europe.

See also: Gordon, Paige ; Hervey, Roz ; Lansac, Regis ; Meryl Tankard Australian Dance Theatre ; Meryl Tankard Company ; Tankard, Meryl

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Find more about Kikimora in:

• Internet - Google
• Articles - New York Public Library Dance Collection
• Pictures - Picture Australia