The winner of the 2017 Tanja Liedtke Fellowship is Lauren Langlois. An award-winning dancer, Langlois has earned a reputation as a vivacious and charismatic performer, working most recently with Chunky Move, and with Australian Dance Theatre prior to that.
Now she turns her attention to choreography, with the assistance of the Tanja Liedtke Fellowship, which will see her spend four weeks in Berlin this August. The first three weeks will be in residence at adaStudio in Berlin, developing the first stage of new dance theatre work that explores a future world through some very specific scenarios and possibilities. Belgium based Australian dancer James Vu Anh Pham and actor/writer James Mackay will join Lauren in the development which will conclude with a public showing.
The timing of the Fellowship program is designed to coincide with Berlin’s international contemporary dance festival Tanz Im August, giving Langlois the opportunity to spend the fourth week seeing performance, engaging in workshops and connecting with the Berlin dance scene.
“I am honoured and delighted to be the recipient of the 2017 Tanja Liedtke Fellowship, and grateful for this opportunity to explore the beginnings of my own creative practice surrounded by the cultural vitality of Berlin” says Langlois. “I have always harboured the aspiration to create work and I am truly humbled that through this prestigious Fellowship, it will be the Tanja Liedtke Foundation’s support that will propel me into taking this first step. I am excited at the possibilities of what might be achieved in exploring the seed of a new work in such an invigorating environment. I wholeheartedly thank the Foundation’s Board of Trustees for their support, and for giving me the opportunity to begin this journey”.
The biannual Fellowship honours the late Tanja Liedtke, who was killed in a road accident 10 years ago, just as she was about to take on the role of artistic director of Sydney Dance Company. You can read more about Liedtke’s achievements and the fellowship here.
Pictured top: Lauren Langlois in Chunky Move's 247 Days. Photo: Jeff Busby.