This interview is with Shelley Lasica, daughter of pioneering Melbourne dance choreographer and teacher, Margaret Lasica (1926-1993). Shelley herself is an amazing contributor to the performing arts scene as a successful choreographer and performer.

Born in Vienna, Margret migrated to Australia with her family in 1939. During the 1940s, Margaret studied with Ruth Bergner. Bergner’s work had a political and social undercurrent, drawing upon European and Jewish dance traditions to create modern dance performances. Margret drew influence from Bergner’s work.

In 1967, she founded the Modern Dance Ensemble (MDE). MDE performed up until 1981 and then intermittently until 1990. Margret is noted in history as a dancer, choreographer and teacher. Her teaching was exceptional and she fostered a range of incredible talent. Margret was a significant influence on Lloyd Newson, who went on to establish DV8 in the UK.

During her life Margret sought to document the history of Modern Dance in Australia. This is collated in the National Library of Australia’s manuscript collection: Margaret Lasica Papers. The University of Melbourne also holds The Margaret Lasica Collection; a collection of books, journals and ephemera relating to her life.

Margret died in 1993, leaving behind an amazing legacy.

This is a warm and detailed interview covering Margret’s career and ongoing legacy through the recollections of Shelley. Interview conducted by: Jonathan Homsey from Ausdance Victoria.

Women Australia

This episode is part of a special season Ancestors & Anecdotes, in partnership with Ausdance Victoria. Find the other episodes here.

This season produced in partnership with Ausdance Victoria. Delving into Dance is completely self-funded. To continue providing a platform for amazing choreographers and dancers. Please consider leaving a contribution. Every contribution helps this project continue, reaching an audience of 10 000 people.

Additonal Episodes

Dalisa Pigram

‘We value everyone equally, but you know, of course each person has a role to play in the team that's been created, but no one is, you know, less valuable than another.’

Daniel Riley

‘My daughter Billie, she was in rehearsal today. My son Archie grew up the first two or three years of his life, like, on tour with me when I was with Bangarra Dance Theatre and just being in the artistic environment and being surrounded by people is such a beautiful gift, I think, that I can give to them as well.’

Antony Hamilton

‘When I'm making dance and when I think about choreography or art, I often relate my early childhood experiences to the things that I make now as well.’

Alice Topp

‘I guess for a lot of people, ballet is still very much an evolving, developing language. I think people think it was probably stuck in a time and hasn't progressed. But modern ballet is very challenging and arresting and it's finding new ways of working with an old structure.’

Lloyd Newson

I used to say for a long time that I thought the dance was the Prozac of the art forms. […] there is an aesthetic that dominates our work, often complex or ugly or difficult issues are glossed over because people are pointing their feet and look very lovely.

James Vu Anh Pham

“What I love about the dance world is that it has the possibility of bringing together so many different cultures, so many different people, beliefs, ways of thinking, ways of being in a space … we always find a common ground and a way to exist and support one another and to create something really beautiful”

Paul White

“I am totally hooked by collaboration, particularly with friends”

Amrita Hepi

“There is something about sharing something with somebody, or about teaching somebody something that allows space for a conversation that you might not normally have.”

Harper Watters

“I try to make the ballet world a lot more colourful, diverse and a lot more inclusive.”

Mette Ingvartsen

“The fact that the sexual undertone, or the desiring undertone that a lot of dance is operating through, for me it was very important to make it explicit. To actually say ‘okay part of what is happening here is a question of desire, it is a question of being stimulated physically. Then there are many different levels or layers of this happening of course. In my work it was about saying, we have to recognise that these underlying structures are there, and if we recognise it and even expose it explicitly then maybe we can actually look at for something else or question ourselves….”