Tanja Michaela Karin Liedtke (6 October 1977 – 17 August 2007) was a German-born professional choreographer and dancer. She was most noted as a dancer, choreographer and director of contemporary dance in Australia and Europe.

Early life and education

Tanja Michaela Karin Liedtke was born on 6 October 1977 in Stuttgart,

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

. As a young child, she moved with her family to

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, where she began to study

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

. Her family then settled in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, where she won a place to study at the

Elmhurst School for Dance Elmhurst Ballet School is an independent school for professional classical ballet in the United Kingdom. It takes students aged 11–19 years who intend to pursue a career in professional classical ballet. Elmhurst provides a full academic day in ...

. After deciding to pursue a career in contemporary dance, she continued her studies at the Rambert School in London, graduating in 1995.

Career

Liedtke was granted Australian citizenship in 1996, keeping the dual German and Australian citizenship, and began her professional career with

Australian Dance Theatre Australian Dance Theatre (ADT), known as Meryl Tankard Australian Dance Theatre from 1993 to 1999, is a contemporary dance company based in Adelaide, South Australia, established in 1965 by Elizabeth Cameron Dalman . The ADT was the first moder ...

, working with the company until 2003. During this time, she toured with the company internationally, most notably around Australia,

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and North America. After ADT, she returned to England, where she joined the London-based

DV8 Physical Theatre DV8 Physical Theatre (or Dance and Video 8) was a physical theatre company based at Artsadmin in London, United Kingdom. It was officially founded in 1986 by Lloyd Newson (1986–2015), Michelle Richecoeur (1986–1988) and Nigel Charnock (1 ...

, under the direction of choreographer

Lloyd Newson Lloyd Newson (born 1957) is a director, dancer and choreographer. He formed DV8 Physical Theatre and has led the company since its inception in 1986. He studied psychology and social work at Melbourne University and after graduating began his da ...

. During 2001 to 2007 Liedtke started to choreograph her own work. In 2007, Liedtke was appointed artistic director of the

Sydney Dance Company Sydney Dance Company is a contemporary dance company in Australia. The company has performed on stages around the world, including the Sydney Opera House in Australia, the Joyce Theater in New York, the Shanghai Grand Theatre in China, and the ...

, succeeding the founder

Graeme Murphy Graeme Lloyd Murphy AO (born 2 November 1950) is an Australian choreographer. With his fellow dancer (and wife since 2004) Janet Vernon, he guided Sydney Dance Company to become one of Australia's most successful and best-known dance compani ...

. Unfortunately she did not have the opportunity to take the position, as she was killed in an accident before she was due to start.

Legacy

The

Tanja Liedtke Foundation The Tanja Liedtke Foundation (German: Tanja Liedtke Stiftung) is a German-based charity supporting modern and contemporary dance. History The foundation was established in July 2008 in honour of the dancer and choreographer, Tanja Liedtke who was ...

was established in May 2008 , access-date=17 February 2023 in honour of her work. The foundation's purpose is to support the enrichment and advancement of contemporary dance theatre, and the development of Australian/European artistic connections. The Tanja Liedtke Foundation is registered in Stuttgart, Germany, as Tanja Liedtke Stiftung, with tax-privileged purposes in accordance with German Law. The film ''Life in Movement'' directed by Bryan Mason and Sophie Hyde from

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

film company Closer Productions about her was named best work at the 2011

Ruby Awards The South Australian Ruby Awards, also known as the Ruby Awards, are annual awards which recognise outstanding achievement in South Australia’s arts and culture sector. They were named in honour of arts champion Dame Ruby Litchfield (1912–2001 ...

for the arts. It also won the 2011 Foxtel Australian Documentary Prize and won AACTA nominations for direction and for best feature documentary. In 2023,

(ADT) in Adelaide partnered with the Tanja Liedtke Foundation to offer four four Tanja Liedtke Studio creative residencies at the

Odeon Theatre, Norwood Norwood is a suburb of Adelaide, about east of the Adelaide city centre. The suburb is in the City of Norwood Payneham & St Peters, whose predecessor was the oldest South Australian local government municipality. History Before British colonis ...

, the home of ADT. Those winning the residences would receive a stipend of , along with free studio space for two weeks.

Awards

*1999 - Dance Australia Critics Choice Award for Most Promising Choreography *2000 - Dance Australia Critics Choice Award for Most Promising Choreography *2006 -

Australian Dance Award The Australian Dance Awards recognise excellence and promote dance in Australia. They are awarded under the auspices of the Australian Dance Council (Ausdance) for performance, choreography, design, dance writing, teaching and related professions ...

for Outstanding Achievement in Choreography for her production of ''Twelfth Floor'' *2008 - Helpmann Award for Best Choreography in a Dance or Physical Theatre Work for her choreography of "Construct" (posthumous) *2009 - Australian Dance Award for Outstanding Achievement in Choreography for her choreography of ''Construct'' (posthumous) *2009 - Australian Dance Award for Outstanding Achievement in Independent Dance for her choreography of ''Construct'' (posthumous)

References

External links

*
Tanja Liedtke Archive
*
Papers of Tanya Liedke
at the

National Library of Australia The National Library of Australia (NLA), formerly the Commonwealth National Library and Commonwealth Parliament Library, is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the ''National Library Act 1960'' for "mainta ...