Latest News.
'Kristian Fredrikson Designer' book review
A delightful review of Michelle Potter's book Kristian Fredrikson, Designer, can be found online on Arts Review.
Kristian Fredrikson book now available
Michelle Potter's book Kristian Fredrikson Designer is at last available in various book shops, such as:Hill of Content, Readings, Booktopia, Book Depository, Dymocks, and the National Library bookshop.
It has stunning photographs and reproductions of Kristian’s designs. It is a must read for all ballet/dance fans and those interested in design.Congratulations Michelle!
Media Release for Kristian Fredrikson book
We are pleased to share with you the media release for Michelle Potter's book on Kristian Fredrikson.
You can find the details here.
Kristian Fredrikson Book
We are pleased to announce that we have raised the required amount of money to complete the publishing of the book on Kristian Fredrikson.Thank you to all those who contributed to the fund, we will post updates on the books progress on this site.
Scholarship applications
We are disappointed to announce that there were no applications for The Kristian Fredrikson Scholarship For Design in The Performing Arts this year. We can only hope that this year has been a busy one for designers with no time to fill out application forms.
Thank you to all those professionals working in the industry who agreed to be on the selection panel.
An update on the Kristian Fredrikson book project.
We would like to share with you the following update from Michelle Potter on her Kristian Fredrikson book project:
There has been a change of Publisher, to Melbourne Books.
Many thanks to everyone who assisted in getting the beautiful illustrations together, as the feedback from this publisher was that the book is ‘an impressive work with beautiful illustrations.’
After the publisher had read the full manuscript (into which I had embedded over 100 images), they came back to say that Melbourne Books wanted to publish it as ‘a large format, hard cover book.’ This is terrific news as only in such a format can justice be done to Kristian’s fabulous art work.
Melbourne Books has now done costings and suggested the size of a print run. The next step is to find an arts-oriented Foundation to give some assistance with printing costs which, given the large format, hard cover aspect of the publication, and the need for a lot of colour printing, is a necessary factor. Melbourne Books will, of course, cover the major amount of the cost of printing, but has estimated an extra $15,000 is needed. I have a few ideas, and I may even set up another Australian Cultural fund project. Any further suggestions would be welcome.
Further news will be shared in due course.
Kind thanks
We would like to thank The Betty Amsden Foundation for their generous donation towards the cost of producing The Kristian Fredrikson book. We would also like to acknowledge Betty Amsden’s past financial contribution to The Kristian Fredrikson Scholarship.
The Australian Cultural Foundation Funding appeal towards the digitalisation of photographs for the book is now closed. We are so very grateful to all those who contributed to the appeal.
Update on Michelle Potter's Fredrikson project
Dear Fredrikson supporters,
Thank you once again for your generosity in supporting my ACF project. Here is a quick update on where the project to acquire a solid selection of hi-res imagery is at the moment.
The largest proportion of Kristian's designs are held by the National Library in Canberra, where they were deposited by the co-executors of his Estate. Ordering of this material is well and truly underway, in fact is almost finished. In addition I have been dealing with other organisations for designs and photographs, including the National Gallery of Australia; the Performing Arts Collection, Arts Centre Melbourne; the Sydney Opera House; the Australian Ballet, the Dowse Art Museum, Lower Hutt, New Zealand; Houston Ballet, Texas; and individual artists who worked with Kristian including choreographer Gray Veredon in France; film maker Philippe Charluet in Melbourne; and of course a number of individual photographers. This broad range of sources means that images are available from across the entire range of Kristian's career - from his early work for Opera-Technique Inc in the 1960s in Wellington, to his final commission, Stanton Welch's Swan Lake for Houston Ballet, which had its premiere 3 months after Kristian's death.
In terms of writing I have just today completed a list of works (some 150 of them) giving date of premiere, company, director etc, which I am hoping this will be included as an appendix. This is important because within the text of the book it is impossible to go into detail about every one of Kristian's commissions.
Thank you again for your support and I look forward to updating you again at some stage.
Michelle
'Kristian Fredrikson: Designer' the book
We are thrilled to announce that at last we have a publisher for The Kristian Fredrikson book by Dr Michelle Potter, and an Australian Cultural Fund campaign has been launched to help raise the funds to bring the book to life.
We encourage you to make a donation, and share the campaign with family, friends and colleagues. You can be part of making this wonderful book come to fruition.
You can follow the link to the campaign website here.
Coppelia
After a previous sell out season The Australian Ballet is again presenting The Storytime Ballet version of Coppelia for children.
This production was designed by Kristian Fredrikson in 1979 and has been revived on many occasions. This programme is touring to Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide, and Melbourne April-May 2019, and has been created to introduce children to the world of dance.
For more information: https://australianballet.com.au/the-ballets/storytime-ballet-coppelia
A reminder of dates
Just a reminder of dates for the 2020 Scholarship:
Applications will open on 1st October 2019, and close on 1st December 2019.The Scholarship recipient will be announced at the Green Room Awards in April 2020.
Now is an excellent time to start thinking about your itinerary and travel plans.
Michael Hankin
We are pleased to report on the recent activities of scholarship recipient Michael Hankin.
Michael left for London on July 30th 2018, and has been very busy since landing.
He went to the Edinburgh Festival in late July and August, before ‘Memorial’, starring Helen Morse - for which he designed the set - travelled to London's Barbican Theatre. It ended up being a great success with some 5 star reviews.
He has been attending theatre left right and centre at The National Theatre, The Young Vic, The Old Vic, The Donmar Warehouse, Traverse Theatre, Lyceum Theatre, Soho Theatre, West End, English National Opera, and smaller local theatres, and has crossed paths with quite a few Australian artists such as Neil Armfield and Ralph Myers.
He has attended art installations at the Tate Modern, The Haywood Gallery, Victoria and Albert Museum and countless others, has taken part in forums and attended seminars, architectural talks and tours.
Michael has been assisting senior designer Hildegard Bechtler which has allowed him to be a fly on the wall to many interesting conversations with Directors, Production Managers and other Designers, as she worked on productions such as Antony and Cleopatra (with Ralph Fiennes) at The National Theatre, Three Sisters at the Almeida, a ballet for the Royal National Opera and projects with The Armoury in New York.
Currently, Michael is planning to go to the Chekhov festival and the Festival D'Avignon in 2019.
He notes ‘The time here so far has been an absolute wealth of inspiration and it's constantly expanding my own general knowledge of theatre, dance, opera, film and art. I can already see how I will continue to bring these new ideas, techniques, experiences, theories and ideas to my work or future students work. I'm so appreciative of the scholarship.’
We look forward to hearing more of Michael’s future experiences overseas.
'Turandot'
Opera Australia has just announced their 2019 season. In November and December 2018 they will be presenting their production of Turandot at the Arts Centre Melbourne, which was designed by Kristian Fredrikson and directed by Graeme Murphy. The production will then be presented at the Sydney Opera House from January to March 2019.
“Turandot is a fantasy opera of poetry and myth, set in an exotic world where fear and love go hand in hand and death is always just around the corner. ‘Nessun Dorma’ is just one of its magnificent moments.” Kristian excelled at imaginative design, so prepare for some magnificent sets and costumes!
Said of Kristian by Adrian Collette, "Kristian Fredrikson was one of our most important and influential designers, whose work graced the opera, ballet and theatre stage. He designed some of our best loved productions including Salome and The Merry Widow, and I'm sure his Turandot and, most recently Norma in 2004, will live in our repertoire form many years to come. He will be greatly missed by all of us in the industry."
Australian Ballet regional tour
The Australian Ballet has announced it will be taking the much-loved ballet Coppélia, designed by Kristian Fredrikson, on its regional tour. The company will visit rarely visited cities such as Bundaberg, Alice Springs and Darwin, offering audiences and broader communities a rich suite of performances, education and audience engagement initiatives. The touring party of 42 combines members of the main company as well as graduating students of the Australian Ballet School. Coppélia has an important place in The Australian Ballet’s history, it was performed during the company’s inaugural season in 1962 and later revived in 1979 in a new production by The Australian Ballet’s founding Artistic Director Dame Peggy van Praagh, and the renowned theatre director George Ogilvie.
For more details, see The Australian Ballet website.
Announcing the 2018 Recipient of the Kristian Fredrikson Scholarship for Design in the Performing Arts
We are proud to announce that NIDA graduate and Associate Design Lecturer Michael Hankin (Design, 2009) is the 2018 recipient of The Kristian Fredrikson Scholarship For Design in The Performing Arts.
Michael graduated from NIDA with a Bachelor of Dramatic Art in 2009, and went on to design for a number of top theatres, including Belvoir St Theatre, Carriageworks, State Theatre of South Australia, Sydney Theatre Company, Melbourne Theatre Company, Bell Shakespeare, and Malthouse Theatre.
In addition to NIDA, Michael has also been Guest Lecturer in Design for Belvoir Street Theatre Education Department.
His Awards include: The Mike Walsh Fellowship, a NSW Artstart Grant, and the Winner of Best Stage Design at The Sydney Theatre Awards for Hir, Of Mice and Men and Truckstop, as well as several nominations. Michael is a member of The Australian Production Designer’s Guild and has received two nominations for Best Stage Design. This year his set design for Memorial, a production which is being co-produced between Adelaide and Brisbane Festivals will travel to The Barbican Centre in London.
The scholarship was created in honour of the brilliant designer Kristian Fredrikson, who died in 2005, and upholds the memory of his involvement in developing excellence in design for the performing arts. It will provide Michael with $12,000 to travel and study overseas to further his career.
Michelle Potter lecture
Dr Michelle Potter Dance Writer and Researcher has been invited to give The Russell Kerr Memorial Lecture in Wellington, New Zealand, and her topic will be Kristian Fredrikson.
Dr Potter has a wide knowledge regarding his career and interviewed Kristian before his untimely death as part of The National Library of Australia’s Dance Archive.
Applications are open
Applications are now open for the next Scholarship.They will close on 1st December 2017.
Please ensure to read the application guidelines carefully, which can be found on the application form.
An update on our previous recipients
Our previous recipients have been working on a great number of exciting design projects. We couldn't be more pleased, and want to share some of their news.
Alicia Clements
Alicia is currently working on the Melbourne Theatre Company and Sydney Theatre Company co-production The Father, starring John Bell. She is working at Sydney Theatre Company as the associate costume designer under Gabriela Tylesova for Muriel’s Wedding- an enormous project involving approximately 300 costumes. She is also designing the set and costumes for Dean Bryant’s new production of Assassins at the Hayes Theatre, and has just closed the Rameau Triple Bill for Pinchgut Opera.
David Fleischer
This year David has designed the set for Chimerica, and the set and costumes for Australian Graffiti, both at Sydney Theatre Company. He also designed Ocho for Sydney Dance Company with Rafael Bonachela, which toured to Melbourne and Canberra. He is about to start rehearsals for The Rape of Lucretia, for which he is designing the set for the Sydney Chamber Opera, and later this year he will be at Queensland Theatre Company designing Scenes of A Marriage.
David’s time overseas on his scholarship was spent observing Komische Opera’s The Fair at Sorotinzi, and enjoying the plethora of theatre, opera, dance and installation works all over the city of Berlin.
Prepare your application
A timely reminder to all theatrical designers and makers.
If you intend to apply for The Kristian Fredrikson Scholarship scholarship in October 2017 for 2018, now is the time to think about the sort of study program you would like to pursue and contact the individuals, company's, or institutions. You need to remember that they often require a lead up time before they can commit to a secondment or program. Good luck.