STRUT dance, Western Australia’s Choreographic Development Centre, is pleased to announce the appointment of Paul Selwyn Norton to lead the organisation as its new Director.
Born and raised in Africa and the West Indies, Paul has been a professional dancer, choreographer and teacher for the last 25 years. As a rather wild and untamed thing, he was discovered in a discotheque at the ripe age of 23. From then on he hunted and gathered his way into the dance field, all the way up to his eventual position in William Forsythe’s prestigious Ballet Frankfurt.
He has created works for Australia’s own Chunky Move, Stalker Theatre, Strings Attached and EDC, and has engaged with the tertiary education departments of Queensland University of Technology, Victorian College of the Arts, WA Academy of Performing Arts and LINK, as lecturer, pedagogue and choreographer. He brings with him his wealth of directing and producing world-class dance and theatre in Europe, Israel and the U.S.
On his appointment, Paul says “Most eyes wrongly tend to default to the East coast of Australia when it comes to creative endeavor. I am very excited to be offered the chance to assist in shaping the next phase of STRUT dance as a creative beacon in the West.”
Initially Paul will be acting in the role of consultant as STRUT dance begins to reshape its role and position within Australian dance ecology. He will take up the full position later in 2013.
Chair of STRUT dance, Olwyn Williams, acknowledged the incredible contribution and achievements of former Director, Agnes Michelet and Strut founder Sue Peacock. “STRUT began ten years ago to provide West Australian contemporary dance artists with a platform to show work in development.”
“It came about because contemporary dance artists didn’t want to operate in a void any more. It is a different environment today especially after increased activity across the four year Future Moves initiative. With Paul at the helm, STRUT takes a new step forward with contemporary dance in WA.”
For more information, visit: www.strutdance.org.au for details.
Image: Paul Selwyn Norton
Be the first to comment