The Round Company Ltd
Mangement and Productions

Meryl Tankard is one of Australia’s iconic choreographers.

Meryl began her career as a dancer with the Australian Ballet and then moved to Germany to join Pina Bausch’s Wuppertaler Tanztheater, becoming one of the company’s leading artists. Meryl created roles in Cafe Muller, Kontakthof, Arien, 1980, Bandoneon, Keuscheitslegende, amongst others. During her time in Germany she worked on two films, one for ZDV TV Fur Donlad mit Lieben Grusse and Sydney an der Wupper, in which she acted and co-wrote with director Bettina Woernle. Sydney an der Wupper was awarded a Silver Band for Best Short Film at the Berlin Film Festival in 1984.

After six years in Germany, Meryl returned to Australia. She played the lead in a ABC TV series Dancing Daze produced by Jan Chapman and directed (in part) by Jane Campion and also performed in Robyn Archer’s Pack of Women for ABCTV.

Meryl also choreographed for theatre, opera and TV. In 1989 she directed her own company for four years in Canberra and began building a rich repetoire of work. Meryl was one of the first dance artists to incorporate photographic, video, film projections in her work and, together with her partner Regis Lansac, has continued to develop new ways of working with the medium. As acknowledgement of her contribution to the arts she was awarded Canberran of the Year in 1992.

Moving to Adelaide to direct the Australian Dance Theatre in Adelaide (1993-1999), she continued to create full length dance theatre works and has toured extensively to Europe, USA, UK and Asia. She has created over 20 full length works including Furioso, Possessed, Aurora, Songs with Mara, Two Feet, Rasa and Inuk.

Since 2000 Meryl has been working freelance, creating the opening segment, Deep Sea Dreaming of the 2000 Olympic Games Ceremony in Sydney, Bolero for the Lyon Ballet, Merryland and Petroushka for Netherlands Dance Theatre 3 and 1, Wild Swans, a full-length ballet for The Australian Ballet and Cinderella for the Leipzig Ballet. Meryl has also choreographed for musicals on London’s West End and for Disney on Broadway and Tokyo for Horipro Productions, as well as operas and films, working recently as a movement consultant in Namibia for Mad Max: Fury Road.

Meryl created The Oracle for Paul White in 2010, winning Aust Dance Award for Most Outstanding Choreography and Best Male Dancer. The Oracle toured Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, London, France, Switzerland, Germany and USA

In 2010 Meryl gained a Graduate Diploma in Film Directing from the Australian Film, Television and Radio School and her recent documentary Michelle's Story won the Audience  Award for Best Short Film at the Adelaide Film Festival 2015 as well as  Screen SA awards for Best Short Film, Best Documentary and Best Soundtrack.

Meryl was awarded the $50,000 Jim Bettison and Helen James Award in 2016. The award recognises individual Australians who have contributed exemplary and inspiring work of high achievement in their field with beneft to the wider community.

In 2018 Meryl choreographed Camille Claudel in Le Theatre de l’Athenee in Paris and remounted Furioso for the Royal Ballet of Flanders.

For the Adelaide Festival in 2019 Meryl created two full-length works : a new version of Two Feet for the acclaimed Russian ballerina Natalia Osipova, and Zizanie for Restless Dance Theatre (for performers with and without disabilty)

Meryl was recently honoured with an Officer of the Order of Australia for her distingished services to the performing arts.

2021 Meryl created Skin Deep for the LGBTQI+ Community and The Song Company performed at National Art School in Sydney.

Meryl is currently developing a screenplay for a feature film.