Lewis Major is making moves in regional South Australia
Farmhand turned choreographer Lewis Major is in demand around the world, but his personal ties have inspired him to bring a taste of the Fringe to country South Australia.
It’s been a gruelling Adelaide Fringe for choreographer Lewis Major. He’s running up 15-hour days with his own shows — Thunderstruck and Triptych — alongside mentoring Port Augusta dance troupe Dusty Feet Mob, and running Fringe venue The Stables at the Adelaide College of the Arts.
And then there’s the side hustle of running tech for other shows to funnel funds into his own super-tight tour budget. While for some performers rest is in sight as the end of the festival looms, Major still has a 10-stop regional Fringe tour ahead of him.
He’s taken his independent contemporary dance company’s award-winning productions to famous stages across the world, from London’s prestigious Sadler’s Wells and the Royal Opera House to the Baryshnikov Art Centre in New York. Major’s two daughters live in France, along with international interest beckoning him to permanently relocate overseas, but it’s important for him to continually return to his roots.
“I’m still regional through and through — if I can make work that fits on the New York City Ballet stage, and also Robe Town Hall, I’m doing my job.”
Major is acutely aware how vital it is for art to be reach audiences outside of big cities. He grew up on a sheep farm between Penola and Robe, and describes himself as having “a background in sheep shearing and a foreground in contemporary dance theatre”. He stumbled into dance while asked to act as a “human crane” lifting a female dancer from one place to another in a SACE dance performance. It sparked an obsession, and Major is keen to ensure others can have the same opportunities.
Lewis Major. Photo: Supplied
“When I was growing up in regional South Australia, the void that sometimes existed between regional audiences and high-quality live performance was very, very real,” he says.
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“And, as much as things have changed somewhat, it still exists.
“I know that I decided I wanted to be a dancer, I wanted to be in arts because I saw a show that was touring regional SA. So even though I know well I’ll lose a fortune, there might be one kid in that audience who decides they don’t want to be a sheep shearer — not that there’s anything wrong with that — [and] decides they want a career in the arts that they didn’t realise was a possibility.”
He’ll be bringing Thunderstruck and Lien from Whyalla to Mount Gambier, Coober Pedy to Robe, visiting conventional theatres and pop-up locations in wineries and town halls.
In Thunderstruck Major collaborates with US composer Blue Violin to create a breathtaking in-the-round candlelit concert, where Major’s dancers move in perfect harmony with Blue Violin’s lie violin loops that blend classical sounds with power ballads.
Lien offers its own unique premise, as a dancer and single audience member come together, one-on-one, on an empty stage. The pair chat for 10 minutes, before the dancer crafts a spontaneous performance based on their conversation. Lien’s inspiration came in the thick of the pandemic, when Major was moved to create a socially distanced piece highlighting the importance of human connection.
“The audience member walks in from backstage, and they see this open auditorium and empty seats,” he says. “The lights go down slowly. A spotlight comes on, and they are sitting there with a performer who’s going to ask some questions about how they’re how they’re really feeling? And then the dancer takes that conversation, and they perform this little vignette based on that conversation. And no one else will ever see that show.
“It stemmed from Covid, and we were missing human connection. We could all watch Netflix or whatever, but we couldn’t be in a theatre with living, breathing bodies experiencing something together.”
Major says it’s especially important to bring such work to the regions, where he feels there is an epidemic of loneliness, compounded by the drought, isolation and limited support networks. By staging his work outside of traditional dance spaces, he hopes to attract people who mightn’t feel comfortable going to a theatre.
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Getting back to the farm also keeps Major grounded — and it’s also the only thing he gets paid for, he says with a wry grin.
“I spend so much of my life in these very unreal worlds”, he says. “On the farm if the rain don’t fall, sun don’t shine, grass don’t grow – it’s a disaster. But at least it’s real. Shear the sheep’s arse, it’s not going to get fly blown. There’s tangible results. When you’re trying to make a show, or when you’re trying to get funding, you have no idea how it will turn out.
“But on the farm, I rock up and start work at seven in the morning and at 4pm knock off with a beer and know that I’ve done a hard day’s work.”
Lien. Photo: Jane Hobson / Supplied
It’s also where he’d love to establish a base for his company Lewis Major Productions. He has a grand vision of a cultural hub in the Coonawarra, inspired by Europe’s artist residency programs. It would include a studio, theatre, a couple of tiny homes and a restaurant to generate income. Major and his four dancers would be based there six months a year, running classes and engaging with the community. The other half of the year would see international touring.
“While we’re overseas we’d have other artists come in — say a French ballet company, or a German public theatre company come through,” he explains. “They’d do workshops and shows and then there’s actual opportunities for year-round genuine engagement with high-quality live performance in the regions.”
Figuring out the funding for such a model is still a work-in-progress, but for now Major is grateful to Adelaide Fringe for helping him to bring his work to the regions.
“The Fringe is one of the absolute beacons of shining light in the arts in SA,” he says.
“We’ve been incredibly fortunate that we’ve been in receipt of a bunch of Fringe award funding… and we’ve had international tours come out of Honey Pot. The support that comes for the artists, not just during the festival period, but throughout the year is essential in what we do.”
Triptych runs at the Adelaide College of Arts from March 17 – 18. Thunderstruck continues regionally until April 1.
This story is part of a series of articles being produced by InReview with the support of Adelaide Fringe
Read more 2025 Adelaide Fringe coverage here on InReview