Suzy Willson (born 1970) is a British director and choreographer. Willson is co-artistic director of

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

-based performance company

Clod Ensemble Clod Ensemble is a multi-award winning performance company and registered charity based in London, UK. Founded in 1995 by director Suzy Willson and composer Paul Clark, the company creates performances, workshops and other events in the UK and i ...

Early life and education

Willson was born in

Northwood, Middlesex Northwood is an area in the London Borough of Hillingdon, North West London, located northwest of Charing Cross. Northwood was part of the ancient parish of Ruislip, Middlesex. The area was situated on the historic Middlesex boundary with Hert ...

, in 1970. She graduated with a degree in drama from

Manchester University The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

before going on to study at

L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq École internationale de théâtre Jacques Lecoq is a school of physical theatre previously located on Rue du Faubourg-Saint-Denis in the 10th arrondissement of Paris. In May of 2023 the school announced its departure from Paris and relocation t ...

Career

Willson founded London-based performance company

in 1995 with composer Paul Clark and has directed all of their productions to date. Her body of work "defies categorisation" and crosses the boundaries of theatrical and choreographic practice, working with different combinations of dancers, musicians, actors and independent performers. Her productions take place in traditional theatres and dance houses, but also in found spaces and outdoor locations. Her performance work sometimes takes inspiration from medical themes and explores ways of seeing, thinking about and experiencing the human body. Recent works include: ''Placebo'' – a piece in which seven dancers explore the placebo effect commissioned by

The Place The Place may refer to: * The Place (London) The Place is a dance and performance centre in Duke's Road near Euston in the London Borough of Camden. It is the home of London Contemporary Dance School and the Robin Howard Dance Theatre, and forme ...

; choral lament ''Silver Swan'' in

Tate Modern Tate Modern is an art gallery in London, housing the United Kingdom's national collection of international Modern art, modern and contemporary art (created from or after 1900). It forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Live ...

’s Turbine Hall (2011); ''Red Ladies'' – a piece for 18 identically dressed women performed across an entire city (locations include London with

Southbank Centre Southbank Centre is an arts centre in London, England. It is adjacent to the separately owned National Theatre and BFI Southbank. It comprises the three main performance spaces – the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, and Purcell R ...

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

with

Serralves Serralves is a cultural institution located in Porto, Portugal. It includes a contemporary art museum, a park, and a villa, with each one of these being an example of contemporary architecture, Modernism, and Art Deco architecture. The museum, d ...

Museum , Margate, with

Turner Contemporary Turner Contemporary is an art gallery in Margate, Kent, England, intended as a contemporary arts space and catalyst for the regeneration of the town. The title commemorates the association of the town with noted landscape painter J. M. W. Turne ...

); ''An Anatomie in Four Quarters'' – a site specific performance originally created for the entire auditorium of Sadlers Wells, London (2012) and ''Under Glass'' – a piece in which all the performers are in glass boxes and jars (Sadlers Wells 2009–2017), which won a

Total Theatre Award Total Theatre Awards were first presented in 1997 and are given annually at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe to companies excelling in devised theatre, live art, visual performance, mime, puppetry, physical theatre, experimental theatre, dance, clo ...

for Physical / Visual Theatre in 2009. Willson’s work is an advocate for role of the arts in healthcare education She is a regular contributor to journals and books on both performance and medicine (see selected journal articles and book chapters below) and an Honorary Professor at

Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, commonly known as Barts or BL, is a medical school, medical and dental school in London, England. The school is part of Queen Mary University of London, a constituent college of the federal ...

. Willson pioneered the award-winning Performing Medicine programme which encourages people working in healthcare to appreciate the choreographic, non-verbal and spatial dimensions of care. Performing Medicine has been cited as an example of best practice in the 2017 report from the All Party Parliamentary Group on Arts, Health and Wellbeing.

Selected journal articles and book chapters

* Willson, Suzy, and P. Jaye (2017), "Arts based learning for a Circle of Care", ''Lancet'' 390: 642–643 * Willson, Suzy (2007), "Drama for doctors", ''Lancet'' 369: 1782 * Willson, Suzy (2006), "What can the arts bring to medical training", ''Lancet'' 368: S15–S1 * Willson, Suzy (2016), "Moving Medicine", in ''Routledge Companion to Jacques Lecoq'', edited by Mark Evans and Rick Kemp (London: Routledge). * Willson, Suzy (2016), "An Anatomie in Four Quarters: Rehearsal Notes", in ''Performance and the Medical Body'', edited by Alex Mermikides and Gianna Bouchard (New York: Bloomsbury Methuen Drama) * Willson, Suzy (2014), "Clod Ensemble: Performing Medicine", ''Performance Research: A Journal of the Performing Arts'' 19.4: 31–37.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Willson, Suzy 1970 births Living people British choreographers People from Northwood, London British women choreographers Alumni of the University of Manchester British expatriates in France Theatre people from London