Lloyd Newson
Lloyd Newson has led DV8 Physical Theatre since its inception in 1986. His work has had a dynamic impact on contemporary dance and theatre.
His stage and film work with DV8 has consistently received major awards, most recently the prestigious Helpmann Award for Can We Talk About This?.
Born in Australia, Newson studied psychology and social work at Melbourne University. During that time he became interested in dance, a fascination that led to a full scholarship at London Contemporary Dance School. Before forming his own company, he danced and/or choreographed with many companies including Modern Dance Ensemble, Impulse Dance Theatre/New Zealand Ballet Company, One Extra Dance Theatre and Extemporary Dance Theatre.
From the beginning, Newson believed that due to its narrative underpinnings, his work would translate well onto film. Filmmakers David Hinton and Clara von Gool adapted three of DV8’s stage works for film. DV8’s most recent film, The Cost of Living (2004/05), marked Newson’s debut as a film director and has won 19 international awards.
Straddling dance, text, theatre and film, Newson’s work refuses to be defined. He is interested in conceiving original work rather than performing existing plays or reinterpreting classical ballets. More recently he has started exploring verbatim theatre, looking at the relationship between text (drawn from interviews) and movement.
Currently Lloyd Newson is researching ideas for a new live production.
[Photograph: Robert Young]
For a full list of live and film productions, visit our project index >
Interviews
An index of published interviews, starting with the most recent:
The Australian
Jean Hannah Edelstein | 23rd July 2011 | interview and preview of Can We Talk About This?
Dance Australia
Jondi Keane | June/July 2009 | reply to Nicholas Rowe's article 'Points of Difference'
Q&A with Lloyd Newson
2007 | To Be Straight With You press information
Ohne Angst mit dem Partner Händchenhalten
Brigitte Fürle | 2007 | To Be Straight With You programme, Berlin
The Sunday Telegraph
Louise Levene | 1st May 2005 | interview on film making and the making of Just for Show
The Irish Times
Michael Seaver | 20th April 2005 | interview in the lead up to Just For Show
Event Guide, Ireland
Trish Murphy | 6th - 19th April 2005 | interview in the lead up to Just For Show
Lloyd Newson in Conversation with Jo Butterworth
1998, revised 2004 | revised text reproduced here
Article 19
Zoë Boden | 22nd July 2003 | interview published to coincide with the start of the 2003 tour of the cost of living
Dance Umbrella
Donald Hutera | Spring 2000 | issue 5 | Lloyd talks about dance and Wasted (can we afford this)
Dance Theatre Journal
Libby Snape | vol.15 no.2 | 1999 | pp. 8-12 | Lloyd talks about the making of The Happiest Day of My Life
Dance Europe
Nicholas Rowe | Oct/Nov 1999 | pp. 13-17 | Lloyd talks about dance, audiences, critics and his own life
DV8 ... Ten Years on the Edge
Based on an interview with Mary Luckhurst (unpublished) | 1997 | Bound To Please programme
Lloyd Newson ... Dance About Something
Adapted from an interview that first appeared in Live (Methuen) | Original interview by David Tushingham | 1995 | Enter Achilles programme
Ballett International / Tanz Aktuell
Josephine Leask | 1995 | vol 8-9 pp.48-53 | an essay on Lloyd Newson's physical theatre
Dance Now
Summer 1993 | pp 11-13 | Lloyd charts some of the many considerations that form a background to his work
The Independent
Louise Levene | 11th July | 1992
Dance Theatre Journal
Gary Carter | Autumn 1993 | vol.10 no.4 | a wide-ranging discussion of DV8's work, focusing on MSM
Sunday Times
Ellen Cranith | 26th July 1992
Dance and Dancers
Introduction by Nadine Meisner | Summer 1992 | Lloyd Newson talks about his new work
New Dance
Andy Solway | Autumn 1985
