Melanie acknowledges and pays respect to the Traditional Owners and Elders, both past and present, of the lands and waters on which she lives and works – the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people and Bunurong Boon Wurrung and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung peoples of the Eastern Kulin Nation.
Melanie is an Australian/Javanese choreographer and performer. She has collaborated with artists from film, visual art, theatre and music, creating works that tread between performative forms and contexts. Her independent work has been presented at international festivals and theatres in Europe. USA, Indonesia and Australia.
As a performer she has worked with various companies and artists such as Kobalt Works | Arco Renz (B), Club Guy and Roni (N), Tino Seghal (G), Antony Hamilton (AUS) and Lucy Guerin (AUS), performing world wide.
As a choreographer, Melanie has established a repertory of works performing in international festivals and theatres such as Tanz im August, Uzes Danse Festival, Arts House Melbourne, Sydney Opera House, O Espaco do Tempo, Festival Antigel, Dance Massive, Carriageworks, Chunky Move and HAU Hebbel am Ufer Berlin among others. She has been artist in residence at Dock 11 Berlin, Tanzwerkstatt Berlin, Lucy Guerin Studios, Arts House Melbourne and Schauspielhaus Leipzig.
Alongside her independent work, she has been commissioned to create new works for Chunky Move, Sydney Dance Company, DanceNorth, Australasian Dance Collective, Schauspiel Leipzig, LOFFT Leipzig, HAU Berlin, Nagelhus Schia Productions Norway, West Australian Ballet and choreographed for English National Opera’s ‘Salome’ directed by Adena Jacobs.
Melanie’s collaborative work extends to visual artists Bridie Lunney, Ash Keating and Martin Böttger, and video artists Amos Gebhardt and Leyla Stevens amongst others.
Melanie choreographed the 2015 and 2017 live shows for UK electronic musician Clark (Warp records), performing at over 30 international venues and festivals including Moma PS1 New York, Villette Sonique Paris, Funkhaus Berlin and Sonar Festivals in Barcelona/Istanbul.
In 2015 she was resident director at Lucy Guerin Inc. and has been nominated for Helpmann and Green Room awards as both performer and choreographer including the Shirley McKechnie Award for Choreography. Melanie was the recipient of the 2018 Keir Choreographic Award in Australia and the 2017 Leipziger Bewegungskunstpreis in Germany.
From 2018, Melanie has been developing a research for a new work in collaboration with local performing artists in Indonesia.
Melanie is currently Choreographer in Residence at Chunky Move, Resident Artist at The Substation Melbourne and Associate Artist at QL2 Canberra.