Kats-Chernin, Elena (1957 - )

Lansac, Regis: Elena Kats-Chernin at the piano with Meryl Tankard and dancers of the Australian Ballet in rehearsal for 'Wild Swans', 2003

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Born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Elena Kats-Chernin received her early musical training in the Soviet Union. In 1975 she emigrated with her family to Australia and continued her musical studies in Sydney and later in Europe, initially in Germany on scholarship. While in Europe Kats-Chernin worked with the German Expressionist choreographer Reinhild Hoffmann and her Tanztheater Reinhild Hoffman.

Kats-Chernin returned to live in Australia in 1994. She has since established a close working relationship with choreographer Meryl Tankard. Kats-Chernin wrote the music for the Deep Sea Dreaming segment of the opening ceremony for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, which was choreographed by Tankard. In 2002 Tankard used the Kats-Chernin Sonata Lost and Found together with Purple Prelude in both its piano and ensemble versions for Merryland a work she made for Nederlands Dans Theater III. Then in 2003 Kats-Chernin and Tankard collaborated on Wild Swans for the Australian Ballet and Kats-Chernin's score for this work won her a 2003 Green Room Award.

In 2004 Kats-Chernin composed the score for Ian Spink's A Tragedy of Fashion, a work made for Ballet Rambert in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Frederick Ashton. Her compositions have also been used by Kai Tai Chan for Dinosaur for his One Extra Dance Company, Philip Taylor in works made for Ballet Theatre Munich and by Daniele Kurz in a ballet Schere Stein Papier for Stuttgart Ballet.

Kats-Chernin was the recipient of an Australia Council Fellowship for 2004-2005 to continue her collaborations with Tankard. They will work together on two projects, a film and a musical/opera.

See also: Australian Ballet, The ; Spink, Ian ; Sydney 2000 Olympic Arts Festivals ; Tankard, Meryl ; Wild Swans

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• Articles - New York Public Library Dance Collection
• Pictures - Picture Australia
• Music - MusicAustralia
• Collection - OzLife