Australia Dancing - Fredrikson, Kristian (1940

Fredrikson, Kristian (1940 - 2005)

McFarlane, Jim: Portrait of Kristian Fredrikson with a Mouse from Graeme Murphy's 'Nutcracker', the Australian Ballet, 1992

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Kristian Fredrikson was born in Wellington, New Zealand, as Frederick Sams. He began his professional career as a journalist working for the Evening Post, Dominion and Truth. He studied design in Wellington and was influenced in particular by the work of English stage designers including Leslie Hurry and Oliver Messel. It was in New Zealand in the 1960s that he created his first designs for the theatre. They included Winter Garden for the New Zealand Ballet. In 1963, while the Australian Ballet was on tour in New Zealand, Fredrikson met up with Peggy van Praagh who subsequently invited him to come to Australia to design her staging of Aurora's Wedding. Shortly after his arrival he spent eight years as resident designer for the Melbourne Theatre Company and he subsequently worked across a range of art forms including opera, drama, dance, film and television.

Fredrikson established an acclaimed collaborative partnership with Graeme Murphy, which began in 1975 when Fredrikson was working with Melbourne Theatre Company on The Revenger's Tragedy for which Murphy, then freelancing, was creating the choreography. The collaboration began in earnest though when Fredrikson designed Murphy's Sheherazade for Sydney Dance Company in 1979. He has since worked with Murphy on a number of occasions collaborating with him for both Sydney Dance Company and the Australian Ballet as well as for Opera Australia. His contribution to Murphy's works has often extended beyond design to the development of the storyline and concept as with Murphy's Nutcracker in 1992, Tivoli in 2001 and Swan Lake in 2002. Of his collaboration with Murphy Fredrikson has said:

'I can feel where Graeme's leaning. He doesn't have to say it. And that's the art of true collaboration, of course, that you can sense what they are about, their thinking...'

He also enjoyed a collaborative relationship with Stanton Welch for whom he designed Pecos Bill in Welch's Tales of Texas for Houston Ballet (2004) and The Sleeping Beauty for the Australian Ballet (2005). He also created designs for Welch's new production of Swan Lake to premiere by Houston Ballet in 2006.

Fredrikson also continued to work in his native New Zealand in both opera and ballet. In addition to Winter Garden works he desiged for the New Zealand Ballet include Cinderella, Swan Lake, Jean, the latter a work based on the life of Jean Batten, aviatrix, Peter Pan, A Christmas Carol and most recently a new production of Nutcracker. He also was one of a specialised team of designers who worked on the opening ceremony of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.

Fredrikson received four Erik Design Awards and won a number of prestigious Green Room Awards including the 2003 award for concept and realisation with his designs for the Australian Ballet's Swan Lake. In 1999 he received the Australian Dance Award for services to dance and in 2003 his work on Swan Lake also earnt him a Helpmann Award. He died in Sydney in November 2005.

Bibliography:

Edited extracts from Fredrikson's oral history interview are in 'Designs to die for', Brolga, 6 (June 1997), pp. 16-31.

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Other resources

Find more about Fredrikson, Kristian in:

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