Lloyd Newson OBE is a director, dancer and choreographer. He formed DV8 Physical Theatre in 1986, and the company went on to tour across the world for decades, winning 55 national and international awards including the Prix Italia, Rose d'Or and an International Emmy Award. Shows include:, the hard hitting, physically combative, politically charged My Sex; Our Dance, Dead Dreams of Monochrome Men; poetic pieces with more of a  sense of narrative and/or design - Strange Fish, Enter Achilles...

Lou talked with Italian choreographer and performer Silvia Gibraudi, sometimes referred to as ‘the prophet of the free body’, in December 2022. Silvia talked about her journey of trying to find joy and grace, and bring them to people’s lives, to theatres and to people in the street.  She explained how her show Graces explores questions like ‘what is beauty?’ and ‘what does it mean to be perfect?’ in a playful, pleasurable but political way, by placing Silvia, her clown-like character and her...

Lou talked with Movement Directors Ayse Tashkiran and Ingrid Mackinnon about how they approach the key relationships at the heart of their work - namely directors, individual and groups of actors and other collaborators; how they try to identify and develop the ‘feeling’ or ‘colour’ of a production and how they move between leading and observing. They also shared their thoughts on how to ask for time to do the work they need to do, the practicalities that surround how often they are in the...

Lou spoke to Julia in November 2022. They talked about how her journey and values underpin everything she does; how important it is for her to be part of a movement that advocates for the representation of people like her; how House of Absolute work as a collective, and how she approached the role of choreographer of Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club.  Julia also spoke of how, in her early days of parenthood, she is trying to have conversations she might find uncomfortable, and approach them with...

Hello and welcome to a rather unusual one-off episode of Downtime. Lou has absolutely loved talking to all her brilliant guests about how they approach their work. But a while ago it was suggested that maybe she make a mini- episode that focuses on her work, her personal approach to dramaturgy and also CoAD - The Centre of Applied Dramaturgy - and the courses and bursaries she’s developing.  And who better to ask to hold that conversation than veteran dance critic and writer, Sanjoy Roy. 

Damien and Lou spoke in mid October 2022. They talked about the interest in ritual that has informed all of his work; his collaborations with visual artists to make the pieces Thr(o)ugh, Vessel and Skid; the impact that being caught in the centre of the 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris has had on the content of his work; and what it is he is enjoying about working in film.

Caroline spoke with Lou about the work she has done, as a ‘mosquito buzzing in the ears of the arts industry’, striving for cultural equity both in the UK and Australia, and how far there is yet to go on that journey.  She described the work of Arts Access Victoria, including the brilliant new Alter State Festival, and all the work they have been doing with Arts Centre Melbourne to make it a truly accessible event. Caroline also talked about the costs that come along with being an arts...

Tarek Iskander  is the Artistic Director of Battersea Arts Centre, in London. Born in Sunderland to parents born in Egypt, Tarek moved to the Middle East when he was five, and returned to the UK at 17, escaping from the Gulf War in Kuwait. He studied engineering before beginning a management career in the NHS that lasted more than a decade. In the following chapters of his journey he was the Interim Director for Theatre at Arts Council England, one of the founders and Associate Artistic...

Lou talked with Ned, Alan and Naomi about what motivates them, what models they use, their different approaches and what’s difficult about the work they do. They talked about how trust and time are key to letting co-created ideas emerge, and they shared top tips for anyone embarking on a participatory performance project.

Multi- award winning Sasha Waltz was born in Karlsruhe, Germany and studied dance and choreography in Amsterdam and New York. In 1993 she founded her company Sasha Waltz & Guests, together with Jochen Sandig and In 1996 together they opened the Sophiensæle, a theatre in Berlin.  In the years since, alongside her work with Sasha Waltz and guests, she has been one of the artistic directors of Berlin’s Schaubühne 1999 - 2004, and she was the joint artistic director, with Johannes Öhman, of...

In this episode of Downtime, Lou talks with Noel Jordan – Festival Director of Imaginate and Edinburgh International Children’s Festival.  They talked about Noel’s approach to programming, Imaginate’s year round support for artists, the risks Noel can take in terms of programming difficult or sensitive material, and his observations about the quality and nature of work being made both in the UK and across Europe. Noel has extensive experience as an award winning producer, director,...

Lou spoke to Annabelle while she was at Jacob’s Pillow, in June 2022. They spoke about where Annabelle’s passion for working across genres comes from, the detail of how she prepares and what she asks of her dancers in the studio, and how she and her dramaturg and long time collaborator Nancy Meckler work together.  Annabelle also talked about what she thinks a female choreographer can bring to female roles, and what changes she’d like to see in the programming of major companies – one of...

Jonzi D is the founder and Artistic Director of Jonzi D Projects and Breakin’ Convention the international Hip Hop festival he founded in 2004 with Sadlers Wells. A dancer, spoken word artist and director, he is the foremost advocate for hiphop theatre who has changed the profile and influenced the development of the UK British hip-hop dance and theatre scene over the last two decades. He has been actively involved in British hip hop culture, rapping and b-boying since its genesis. As well as...

New York based Katy Pyle is a genderqueer lesbian dancer and choreographer who founded their dance company Ballez in 2011 to explore their complicated relationship to the cis-hetero patriarchal form of ballet, and to make space for their own, and their communities’, presence within it. The mission is to reimagine ballet through collaborative, community-minded, and antihierarchical approaches.  Katy is working to insert the herstory and lineage of lesbian, queer and transgender people into the...

 Joseph Toonga is from East London. He makes and performs dance productions that tell stories of the under-represented, relevant to the here and now which are embedded in the languages of contemporary dance and Hip Hop. Joseph is Artistic Director of Just Us Dance Theatre, has created work for Edge; National Youth Ballet of Germany;  Richard Alston Dance Company and Junior Ballet Madrid.  He is also co-founder of Artists 4 Artists and recently became The Royal Ballet’s first Emerging...

Born in Havana in 1973, Carlos Acosta trained at the National Ballet School of Havana in Cuba. After winning a succession of awards, including the Prix de Lausanne in 1990, he went on to dance professionally with the world’s most prestigious ballet companies, including The Royal Ballet, English National Ballet, Houston Ballet and Cuban National Ballet company. Carlos retired from classical ballet in 2016, after 28 years, having performed almost every classical role from Spartacus to Romeo. He...

Michael Keegan-Dolan founded Teaċ Daṁsa in 2016 as a means to forge stronger connections with the native traditions, language and music of Ireland, as exemplified by the company’s first two productions, Swan Lake / Loch na hEala (2016) and MÁM (2019)....

Lou's guest on Downtime today is Swedish choreographer, film maker and dancer Pontus Lidberg. Pontus became Artistic Director of Danish Dance Theatre in 2018 . He has also been commissioned by  Paris Opera Ballet, New York City Ballet, Martha Graham...

Lou's guest on Downtime today is Shobana Jeyasingh, an internationally recognised choreographer who founded Shobana Jeyasingh Dance 30 years ago. She has created over 60 critically acclaimed works for stage, screen, and public spaces such as Palladian...

The extraordinary Jo Verrent is my guest on downtime today. Jo is the senior producer for Unlimited - the world’s largest commissions programme for disabled artists, ensuring that work gets seen, discussed and embedded within the cultural fabric of the...

My guest on Downtime today is Kate Prince - the AD of Zoonation – and the choreographer behind the massive hits Some Like it Hip Hop, Into The Hoods and most recently Message in a Bottle – a show set to the music of Sting which premiered at Sadlers...

Today’s Downtime chat is with UK-based choreographer Gary Clarke.Gary is known for creating a place to tell socio-political stories and histories of the British working class, in a contemporary dance setting, which is no mean feat! He is loved and...

Talking about dance and the arts