Sue Healey

Update: 2017-05-04

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“I am interested in how we talk about dance. Because: a. I think many people are scared about it, they don’t really understand it.

b. we don’t often, really get to uncover it, and talk about it much. ”

<figcaption class="source">— Sue Healey</figcaption>
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New Zealand-born Sue Healey, left Auckland to study dance at the Victorian College of the Arts. Sue is a performer, choreographer and educator. She has particular expertise in making dance for film. Sue’s practice extends beyond traditional performance venues, with her projects appearing in galleries, outdoors and most recently in a film work presented at train station.

“A sense of place is critical to all my works”

Her work has toured throughout USA, UK, Australia, New Zealand and Asia.

Sue went back to study, completing a Masters Degree in Choreography (2000) from Melbourne University. Sue was the recipient of the Choreographic Fellowship from the Australia Council in 1999/2000 and the Creative Fellowship in 2013-14 from the Australia Council. Sue’s is an Honorary Fellow of the Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne.

Sue has made a number of films including Virtuosi a feature-length documentary that details the experiences of New Zealand dancers and choreographers that left New Zealand to pursue opportunities around the globe. The film has screened in New York, Montreal, Amsterdam, Prague, Portugal, Berlin, Hobart, Auckland and Wellington. Virtuosi won the Australian Dance Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance on Film in 2013. For Sue editing film is a form of choreography. Another fascinating documentary Sue has created is The Golds, which features a dance company of over 60 year old’s. Sue’s work En Route was recently presented on a 23 meter wide screen at Wynyard train station (Sydney), 30 000 people passed the screen everyday. The film captured a wide diversity of individuals and ages, including 102 year old Eileen Kramer and Elizabeth Cameron Dalman aged 82, recognised as the founder of Modern Dance in Australia and the founder of the Australian Dance Theatre.

Sue is passionate about dance believing that movement is central to human expression.

“I find myself saying to someone who knows nothing about dance that the value of dance is that it is utterly human, it is vital human research, that we undertake through movement. Without movement we are nothing, we are dead. Life is movement and our species communicates through movement.”

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In this conversation we discussed: making dance for film, the value of dance, life as a freelance artist, dance education and dance being accessible.

If you enjoyed this interview, please share Sue’s interview on social media (there is zero budget for this podcast so your support is incredibly valuable). Stay tuned for another stimulating episode, hitting the web in two weeks. Check out previous interviews from Deborah Jowett, Gideon Obarzanek, Rafael Bonachela, Lucy Guerin & Anouk van Dijk. You can now find Delving into Dance on Facebook, as well as Twitter and iTunes. Stay tuned for the next episode with phenomenal Meryl Tankard.