Australia Dancing - Lansac, Regis (1947

Lansac, Regis (1947 - )

Tankard, Meryl: Portrait of Regis Lansac [1], 2004

Regis Lansac was born in Lyon, France. He studied languages and was a language teacher before migrating to Australia in 1972. On his arrival in Australia he initially took up residence in Melbourne and there taught himself photography. He returned to Europe in 1976 where he worked as a freelance artist, exhibiting frequently. Returning to Australia in 1981 he began to document Australian performing arts in Sydney and during this period developed his interest in integrating photographic projections into stage performances. He worked with and photographed a variety of artists and companies in Sydney including Nigel Kellaway, the One Extra Company, Entr'acte Theatre, Circus Oz and Meryl Tankard, whom he met in 1984. His first major collaboration with Tankard was in 1988 when he worked on her solo show Two Feet.

From 1989 to 1992 he lived and worked in Canberra creating visual designs for Tankard's productions for her Meryl Tankard Company. Works on which he collaborated during this period included Nuti, Banshee, Kikimora, Chants de mariage and Songs with Mara. For these works he variously created visual and lighting designs as well as undertaking background research for most Tankard productions. While in Canberra his photographic work was acquired by the National Gallery of Australia and the National Library of Australia.

In 1993 he moved to Adelaide and was associate artist for Meryl Tankard Australian Dance Theatre. In Adelaide he created the set design for Tankard's Furioso and visuals for new productions including Seulle and O let me weep, as well as designing the company's posters and logo. In Adelaide his work was acquired by the Art Gallery of South Australia.

Since 1999 he has worked again as a freelance photographer and visual designer, working and living between Sydney and Europe. He has created visual designs for Tankard's works around the world including Bolero in 1999 for the Lyon Opera Ballet, Merryland in 2001 for Nederlands Dans Theater III, Wild Swans in 2003 for the Australian Ballet, Pearl also in 2003 for the 30th birthday of the Sydney Opera House, @north in 2004 for the Berlin Komische Oper and Petroesjka for Nederlands Dans Theater I, also in 2004. More recent collaborations with Tankard include Kaidan- a ghost story for the 2007 Sydney Festival, Inuk 2 for the Sydney Dance Company in 2008 and VX18504 for ATYP (Australian Theatre for Young People) also in 2008.

Research Materials

Oral history | Picture | All

Other resources

Find more about Lansac, Regis in:

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