Lloyd Newson

Lloyd Newson (born 1957) is a director, dancer and choreographer.

Born in Albury, New South Wales in 1957, Newson attended the University of Melbourne, from which he graduated in 1978.

Whilst studying psychology and social work, he started attending dance classes with Margaret Lasica and regularly performed with her company, the Modern Dance Ensemble.

By the time of his graduation, Newson had become interested in pursuing dance professionally, and subsequently joined Impulse Dance Theatre (1979), on a combined tour with the Royal New Zealand Ballet Company.

He travelled to London in 1980 performing with the Australian company One Extra Dance Theatre and whilst there won a scholarship to London Contemporary Dance School (1980-1981).

Between 1981 and 1985 he danced with Extemporary Dance Theatre (UK).

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 dancing career in New Zealand, initially as a dancer but later also as a choreographer.

DV8 Physical Theatre was formed as a response to Newson's increasing frustration with the superficiality of contemporary dance.

DV8's work is characterised by the desire to communicate ideas and feelings clearly and unpretentiously, with a focus on socio-political issues.

Under the banner of DV8 Physical Theatre, Newson's work has won 55 national and international awards.

He has choreographed and directed DV8's work since its inception, with the exception of My Sex; Our Dance (1986) which was co-created with performer Nigel Charnock.

Between 1986 and 1992 Newson frequently collaborated with performers Michelle Richecoeur, Nigel Charnock and Wendy Houstoun.

By 1986, Newson had worked with 28 different choreographers and was beginning to feel increasingly frustrated by lack of subject matter within the British contemporary dance scene.

He has been quoted as saying that he felt the majority of the work he had been dancing in was 'conning' audiences 'about the depth' of what was being presented.

Seeking a way to challenge the limitations of dance, he began to explore the concept of physical theatre, which he saw as allowing him to use 'any means necessary to find the most appropriate way to say something'.

He subsequently formed DV8 Physical Theatre in 1986.

Since its inception, the company has been characterised by work that incorporates a range of mediums, including elements of theatre, dance, film and text.

The first work Newson produced with the new company was My Sex, Our Dance (1986), created in partnership with the performer Nigel Charnock.

It tackled the emergence of AIDS as a social issue, exploring through physical risk-taking the extent to which two men can trust each other.

This was followed by Deep End (1987), and Elemen T(H)ree Sex (1987), works which focused on heterosexual relationships.

These works toured the UK, with Elemen T(H)ree sharing a bill in 1987 with My Sex, Our Dance; something Deep End would also do in 1987 and 1988.

In 1987 the company premiered My Body, Your Body, which featured performer Wendy Houstoun, who had attended a workshop and quickly became a frequent collaborator with the company.

The work, based on audio recordings of a close female friend of Newson's and the book Women Who Love Too Much by Robin Norwood, explored the psychology of women who seek out relationships with abusive men.

Initially conceived with students at Leicester Polytechnic (now De Montfort University), the piece was remounted and toured the UK at the end of 1987.

Dead Dreams of Monochrome Men premiered in 1988, and was the first of Newson's work to be adapted for film (1990).

Dead Dreams of Monochrome Men followed in 1988, and drew inspiration from the book Killing for Company, written about the mass-murderer Dennis Nielsen.

The work premiered at the Third Eye Centre in Glasgow, and received critical acclaim, going on to win the 1989 Time Out Dance Award, and the Evening Standard Ballet Award for the same year.

In 1990, the work was adapted for film with the director David Hinton and went on to be awarded as The Best Stage Performance Reworked for the Camera by IMZ Dance Screen.

After Dead Dreams on Monochrome Men, Newson has stated that he was 'fatigued by the bruising physicality' of his earlier works.

His, and DV8's, following production, If Only... (1990) marked a stylistic change from previous works; later described by Newson as being 'less combative' and 'more poetical'.

The main protagonist was a woman, Wendy Houstoun.

The work was inspired by Bertrand Russell’s writings on happiness, and much like Dead Dreams of Monochrome Men, the production was critically acclaimed, winning the Golden Pegasus Award at 1990's Melbourne International Festival.

Further film translations of stage shows include Strange Fish (1992), Enter Achilles (1995), and The Cost of Living (2004).

In Strange Fish (1992) Newson altered his approach to new work by writing narratives in advance of the rehearsal period.

Wendy Houstoun again played the central role in the production.

Living Costs (2003) was the company's first site specific performance, in collaboration with Tate Modern, and featured elements from the stage production The Cost of Living.

In 2004 Newson conceived and directed the film version of this work which was set on location in Cromer, an English seaside town.

Since 2007, Newson's work has combined his individual style of movement with verbatim text.

These verbatim-dance works deal with contemporary issues: religious tolerance and intolerance towards sexuality in To Be Straight With You (2007–09), censorship and freedom of speech in Can we Talk About This? (2011–12) and a man's attempt to escape his criminal background and redeem his life in JOHN (2014–15).