Kate Champion
KATE CHAMPION has had over thirty years’ experience variously as a director, choreographer, teacher and performer across theatre, dance, film, circus and opera.
Kate was the founding Artistic Director of Force Majeure (2002-15) a revolutionary dance theatre company based in Sydney. Every production she co-devised and directed for Force Majeure utilised a balanced cast of actors and dancers, integrating spoken text, movement and visual language into a holistic form.
Productions include SAME, SAME BUT DIFFERENT (Sydney Festival, Helpmann Award Best Visual or Physical Theatre Production); ALREADY ELSEWHERE (Sydney Festival and Biennale de la Danse in Lyon, Most Outstanding Performance by a Company at the Australian Dance Awards); THE AGE I’M IN (Sydney and Adelaide Festivals, touring to Dublin, Montreal and Seoul, Most Outstanding Performance by a Company at the Australian Dance Awards); FOOD a co-production with Belvoir (regional tour 2013); NEVER DID ME ANY HARM a co-production with Sydney Theatre Company (Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne Festivals plus regional tour 2016); NOTHING TO LOSE (Sydney Festival /Dance Massive 2015) and NOT IN A MILLION YEARS, 2012 Helpmann Award for Best Visual or Physical Theatre Production.
Kate has a passionate interest in new writing and work that is driven by contemporary social issues.
Kate has worked on productions with Belvoir, Sydney Theatre Company, NIDA, The English National Opera, NICA,The Song Company, Legs on the Wall and Australian Theatre for Young People.
She directed SWALLOW (2016) by Stef Smith which was the inaugural production of the National Theatre of Parramatta; THAT EYE THE SKY (2018), adapted from the novel by Tim Winton for State Theatre Company of South Australia; world premiere of the musical EVIE MAY for Hayes Theatre, EVERY BRILLIANT THING (2019) and MY BRILLIANT CAREER (2020) for Belvoir; MEAT EATERS (2019) and PERFECT STRANGER (2021) for NIDA; A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE for State Theatre Company of Australia; FULLY COMMITTED for Ensemble Theatre and THE RISE AND FALL OF ST GEORGE (Mardi Gras 2019, Hamer Hall Melbourne, 2020 & Sydney Festival 2021)
Kate choreographed the world premiere of DIRTY DANCING in 2004 which travelled the world for over 15 years. Kate has collaborated with Neil Armfield on a number of productions including CLOUDSTREET for Belvoir St Theatre in 2001 and THE RING CYCLE for Opera Australia in 2013 (re-mount 2016).
Before creating her own work and becoming a director, Kate was a professional dancer/performer working with companies such as DV8 Physical Theatre – London (Strange Fish, Happiest Day Of My Life, Can We Afford This), Australian Dance Theatre, Dance North, One Extra Co, Theatre Of Image and Human Veins.