my dv8 essay!

all last week in our lessons we were working on learning as much as we could about dv8 and especally Llyod Newson so we could write an essay or do a presentation all about them. So here is my essay....

DV8 research project
DV8 ( dance and video 8) is a British dance group. However they will prefer to be called as physical theatre group as their type of dancing is very unique, some may even say it cannot be classed as dancing however most critics will refer to their dance style as contemporary. DV8 was originated back in 1986 and has been led ever since by a very talented chorographer names Lloyd Newson. DV8 has had a number of different performers in it and have produced many different routines all of which can be seen on their website. DV8 gets funding from the arts council England as well as Dance UK and many others.
Lloyd Newson was born in Australia. His interest in dance started whilst he was studying physiology and sociology at Melbourne university where at first he insisted he was a ‘sports person‘. He went on to study dance and later got a scholarship at the London contemporary dance school. He danced and choreographed with many dance companies including, impulse dance theatre and one extra dance theatre. He then at the age of 28 he set up his own company DV8. In an interview Lloyd said this his reasoning for setting up his own company was ‘I needed to really form my own company and do work that was much more socially conscious than most of the contemporary dance that I was doing.’

Lloyd believes in having a meaning in every routine he choreographs. He likes to take subjects that audiences would find shocking and turn them into a very physical and emotional piece of dance. From what I have watched I get the impression he doesn’t want to try and change peoples opinions about certain matters, for example gay relationships, but he wants us to see it in a different way. He kind of points out the obvious that we as humans are trained not to see. He uses dance to explore human relationships and behaviours in a very dynamic way that ensures you wont forget what you have watched.

All of Newsons pieces contain a lot of contact between two or more people. there is hardly any solo dancing in any of his work. Newson doesn’t believe in adding a move for the sake of it or to waste time but every move he puts into his work has a meaning and a right to be there. He also has a strong belief in the flow of a piece. It means that no one can stop moving unless it feels like a natural thing to do. Also every move links to the next flawlessly. For me the natural flow that runs through all of his pieces adds an odd realness to them. I think that may be his intention as this will help an audience relate to his theme or story he is trying to portray.

Newson gets some of his genius from three practitioners that inspire him
The first of which is a lady named Martha Graham. She was born in 1894 in Pennsylvania. She, like Newson, had her own dance company named ‘The Martha Graham centre of contemporary dance’. I watched a clip from a piece she choreographed named ‘ night journey’ this particular piece has a story running through it and much like Newson her dance style is contemporary with a twist. I would even say there are a few moves she includes in this particular piece that today would be classed as street.

Another person that inspires Newson is Isadora DuncanShe was born in 1877 and began teaching the children on her street how to ‘sway’ at age five. Many people will call her the creator of modern dance. She joined a theatre company in New York and instantly fell in love with the art form. She was one of the first people to test the boundaries of contemporary dance. She wanted to brake away from the precise moves involved in ballet to create a very unique type of dance. She is very inspirational to lots of modern practitioners as she wasn’t afraid to try something different. Still today many
aspiring dancers have to study Isadora in great detail

Merce Cunningham is the last of the three main people Newson admires.
Merce was born in 1919 and died only last year. Through out his whole life he had been looked on as an exceptional dancer. Much like all the practitioners that inspire Newson Merce set out to challenge how we portray contemporary dance. I watched one of the pieces he choreographed named ‘beach birds’ in this piece he uses very abstract movements that represent birds very well. The movements are quite rigid, static and sharp. This dance does have a lot a ballet related moves in it but is very different from most peoples ideas about what ballet should be.
Dv8 are known as a project based group. This means that they change their cast depending on what their next project is. Currently they are holding open auditions for their 2011 project. They are requesting middle east and Asian dancers to star in the piece which explores religion and censorship. Although the chorographer is of course very important the performers must also be very talented. All the performers involved in Dv8 have to have a very high technical dance skill as well as a lot of strength to pull of some of the moves Newson puts into his pieces. They are all also extremely good actors, an essential skill needed to make Newson pieces work. They must all be able to empathise with the characters they play as many of the performers will have very challenging emotional parts to play. the end !