Enter Achilles
Enter Achilles
Lloyd Newson
Enter Achilles automatically triggers, to an audience, the connotations of the Achilles heel or Achilles tendon which from Greek mythology has gained the label as area of weakness. However, Enter Achilles was initially an idea provoked by Lloyd Newsons own experiences. In the early 1980’s Newson injured his hamstring and Achilles tendon in a ballet class he was taking. Whilst hospitalised only Newsons Female and homosexual friends came to visit him and show their worry and concern. This consequently led Lloyd to do some reading into male sexuality and male femininity. He was intrigued by the interaction of men to other men and how heterosexual men find it extremely difficult to express their feminine or more emotional side to their personality. This in turn led to the idea and stimulus for Enter Achilles.
The genre that Enter Achilles would be categorised into would be postmodernism as it returns to traditional concepts for movement ideas that had previously been appreciated by audiences yet making them something new and unique. For example in traditional ballets the interaction and lifting of two dancer would be classed as a pas de deux whereas Newson has developed this accepted dance concept into movement manipulation and ‘contact’.
Enter Achilles steps sideways from the gay issue that has permeated much of DV8’s work prior to this choreography. It finds Newson moving towards “Territory that is new to him” - Watson. K. Hampstead and Highgate Gazette (nodate). The piece is a contemporary piece that anyone can appreciate as movement is pedestrian and the narrative fairly linear. It has been considered to be his most accessible (in terms of readership and audience) piece to date, meaning an audience can appreciate the piece for what it is without prior dance training or knowledge of the piece. Even in the name of the company DV8 the audience are aware that this choreographers work is going to stimulate the audience and
Lloyd Newson
Enter Achilles automatically triggers, to an audience, the connotations of the Achilles heel or Achilles tendon which from Greek mythology has gained the label as area of weakness. However, Enter Achilles was initially an idea provoked by Lloyd Newsons own experiences. In the early 1980’s Newson injured his hamstring and Achilles tendon in a ballet class he was taking. Whilst hospitalised only Newsons Female and homosexual friends came to visit him and show their worry and concern. This consequently led Lloyd to do some reading into male sexuality and male femininity. He was intrigued by the interaction of men to other men and how heterosexual men find it extremely difficult to express their feminine or more emotional side to their personality. This in turn led to the idea and stimulus for Enter Achilles.
The genre that Enter Achilles would be categorised into would be postmodernism as it returns to traditional concepts for movement ideas that had previously been appreciated by audiences yet making them something new and unique. For example in traditional ballets the interaction and lifting of two dancer would be classed as a pas de deux whereas Newson has developed this accepted dance concept into movement manipulation and ‘contact’.
Enter Achilles steps sideways from the gay issue that has permeated much of DV8’s work prior to this choreography. It finds Newson moving towards “Territory that is new to him” - Watson. K. Hampstead and Highgate Gazette (nodate). The piece is a contemporary piece that anyone can appreciate as movement is pedestrian and the narrative fairly linear. It has been considered to be his most accessible (in terms of readership and audience) piece to date, meaning an audience can appreciate the piece for what it is without prior dance training or knowledge of the piece. Even in the name of the company DV8 the audience are aware that this choreographers work is going to stimulate the audience and