Kate Champion

Last updated

Kate Champion
Born1961 (age 61–62)
NationalityAustralian
OccupationCreative director
Organizations

Kate Champion is an Australian choreographer and artistic director.

Contents

Biography

Champion is the incoming artistic director of Black Swan State Theatre Company. She was the founding artistic director/CEO of Force Majeure [1] (2002–2015), an influential dance theatre company based in Sydney.

Champion has worked in theatre, dance, film, circus, opera and musical theatre with arts companies and institutes including Belvoir, Sydney Theatre Company, State Theatre Company of South Australia, Performing Lines, The English National Opera, Opera Australia, The Hayes Theatre, Ensemble, NIDA, NICA and National Theatre of Parramatta. Champion choreographed the original stage version of Dirty Dancing (Australia, UK, US, Europe). She has created and performed two critically acclaimed solo shows, Face Value and About Face.

As artistic director of Force Majeure, Kate co-devised and directed Same, Same But Different, Already Elsewhere, Tenebrae, The Age I’m In, Not in a Million Years, and Nothing to Lose. [2] Theatre directing credits include – Every Brilliant Thing, [3] My Brilliant Career, [4] Food, [5] That Eye the Sky, [6] A View From the Bridge, [7] Fully Committed, [8] Honour, [9] Evie May [10] and Perfect Stranger. Kate has been awarded Helpmann, Green Room, MO and Australian Dance Awards. Champion was a professional dancer/performer working with companies such as DV8 Physical Theatre London, Australian Dance Theatre, Dance North, One Extra Co and Theatre of Image, before going on to create her own work and becoming a director.

Early career

Champion travelled to Munich at age 16 working with Iwanson Dance Company. Returning to Australia Champion was a member of One Extra Dance Company before moving to New York to study, and then returning to Australia becoming a foundation member of Dance North. [11] In 1992 she travelled to London, where she spent time with Lloyd Newson's DV8 Physical Theatre, first as production assistant and then as a performer in Strange Fish, [12] both the stage and BBC film versions. [13] In 1998 she returned to DV8 as rehearsal director for a European tour of Enter Achilles and as a collaborator and performer in The Happiest Day of My Life. [14]

In 1996, Champion was awarded the Robert Helpmann Scholarship [15] for Choreographic Excellence enabling her to create her first solo work Face Value [16] which was awarded a 1998 Green Room Award and a MO Award. In 2001 she created a second solo show About Face. [17]

In 1997 Champion begin collaborating with theatre director Neil Armfield and choreographed Cloudstreet , and directed and devised Under the Influence. [18]

Champion and Lloyd Newson's DV8 Physical Theatre worked together in creating a devised show for the Sydney Olympic Arts festival "The Cost of Living"

Force Majeure

As artistic director of Force Majeure, Champion devised and directed:

Other work

In 2004 Champion choreographed the world premiere of Dirty Dancing , [25] the stage show based on the popular film. Her choreography has been included in the European, West-End, North American, South African and Asian versions of this box-office-record-holding production.

In 2010 she choreographed Opera Australia's Bliss, which also toured to the Edinburgh Festival, and Spring Awakening for Sydney Theatre Company. [26]

Continuing her collaborative relationship with Neil Armfield, Champion took on the role of associate director of Opera Australia's 2013 production (and 2016 remount) of Wagner's Ring Cycle , [27] directed by Armfield.

In 2016 she directed Swallow, written by Stef Smith – the inaugural production of National Theatre of Parramatta. [28] In 2018 Champion directed That Eye the Sky, adapted from the novel by Tim Winton for State Theatre Company of South Australia, and the world premiere of the musical Evie May for Hayes Theatre. 2019 productions included Every Brilliant Thing for Belvoir Theatre, Meat Eaters and Perfect Strangers for NIDA, A View From the Bridge for State Theatre Company of Australia and Fully Committed and Honour for Ensemble Theatre.[ citation needed ]

Champion choreographed the movement sequences in the film Somersault [29] (starring Abbie Cornish and Sam Worthington), and most recently RED. [30]

In 2022, Champion was appointed artistic director of Black Swan State Theatre Company. [31]

Awards

Australian Dance Awards

The Australian Dance Awards. [32]

YearNominee / workAwardResult (wins only)
2005Kate Champion – Already ElsewhereOutstanding Performance by a CompanyWon
2009Kate Champion – The Age I'm InOutstanding Performance by a CompanyWon

Helpmann Award

The Helpmann Awards.

YearNominee / workAwardResult (wins only)
2002n [33] Kate Champion – About FaceBest Female DanceWon
Kate Champion – Same, Same But DifferentBest Visual or Physical Theatre ProductionWon
2011 [34] Kate Champion – Not in a Million YearsBest Visual or Physical Theatre ProductionWon

Mo Awards

The Australian Entertainment Mo Awards (commonly known informally as the Mo Awards), were annual Australian entertainment industry awards. They recognise achievements in live entertainment in Australia from 1975 to 2016. [35]

YearNominee / workAwardResult (wins only)
1998Kate ChampionFemale Dance Performance of the YearWon

Other Awards

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References

  1. ↑ "Force Majeure". Force Majeure.
  2. 1 2 "Force Majeure – Nothing to Lose". forcemajeure.com.au. Archived from the original on 24 October 2016.
  3. ↑ "Every Brilliant Thing".
  4. ↑ "My Brilliant Career".
  5. ↑ "Food Belvoir Sydney 2012".
  6. ↑ "That Eye, The Sky – A Stage Adaption of Tim Winton's Novel". Statetheatrecompany.com.au. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
  7. ↑ "A View From The Bridge". State Theatre Company. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
  8. ↑ "FULLY COMMITTED at Ensemble Theatre".
  9. ↑ "HONOUR".
  10. ↑ ACMN (12 October 2018). "Evie May – Hayes Theatre Co". Hayestheatre.com.au. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
  11. ↑ "Realtime database". realtime.org.au. 17 August 2018. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
  12. ↑ "DV8 Physical Theatre". dv8.co.uk.
  13. ↑ "DV8 Physical Theatre". dv8.co.uk.
  14. ↑ "DV8 Physical Theatre". dv8.co.uk.
  15. ↑ http://www.arts.nsw.gov.au/uncategorized/robert-helpmann-dance-scholarship/ [ bare URL ]
  16. ↑ "Force Majeure – Face Value". forcemajeure.com.au. Archived from the original on 10 April 2013.
  17. ↑ "Force Majeure – About Face". forcemajeure.com.au. Archived from the original on 10 April 2013.
  18. ↑ "RealTime Arts – Magazine – issue 24 – Various gravities". realtimearts.net.
  19. ↑ "Force Majeure – Same, same But Different". forcemajeure.com.au. Archived from the original on 10 April 2013.
  20. ↑ "Force Majeure – Already Elsewhere". forcemajeure.com.au. Archived from the original on 10 April 2013.
  21. ↑ "Force Majeure – The Age I'm In". forcemajeure.com.au. Archived from the original on 10 April 2013.
  22. ↑ "Force Majeure – Not in a Million Years". forcemajeure.com.au. Archived from the original on 10 April 2013.
  23. ↑ "Force Majeure – Never Did Me Any Harm". forcemajeure.com.au. Archived from the original on 26 October 2016.
  24. ↑ "Force Majeure – Food". forcemajeure.com.au. Archived from the original on 27 February 2015.
  25. ↑ "Dirty Dancing – The Classic Story on Stage".
  26. ↑ https://d2wasljt46n4no.cloudfront.net/pdf/content-pages/community-pages/past-production-resources/Final%20Spring%20Awakening.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  27. ↑ "The Ring Cycle". opera.org.au.
  28. ↑ "Swallow – National Theatre of Parramatta". riversideparramatta.com.au.
  29. ↑ "Somersault". IMDb.
  30. ↑ "RED | del kathryn barton". Archived from the original on 21 December 2021 – via YouTube.
  31. ↑ "Black Swan Announces New Leadership Team" – via bsstc.com.au.
  32. ↑ "2018 Awards – 21st Australian Dance Awards". australiandanceawards.net.au.
  33. ↑ "Past nominees and winners | Helpmann Awards". helpmannawards.com.au.
  34. ↑ "Helpmann Award winners". The Sydney Morning Herald. 1 August 2011.
  35. ↑ "MO Award Winners". Mo Awards. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
  36. ↑ "The 2015 FBi SMAC Awards – Carriageworks, January 2016". Archived from the original on 21 December 2021 – via YouTube.
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