Reed Luplau - Dancer and Choreographer

Can he choreograph?
From excelling onstage to starring offstage, Reed Luplau performs on both sides of the line.

By Paul Ransom

Even as a baby, Reed Luplau was dancing. It is perhaps no surprise to find that now, at just 23, he is both an emerging choreographer and a seasoned dancer with the world renowned Sydney Dance Company.

Of course, it helped that his mother owned and ran a dance school in his native Perth. “I grew into it,” Reed recalls. “It was all I ever did really. I did try to do t-ball and football and stuff for dad but it didn’t work out.”

If dancing is in the blood then Reed has surely fulfilled his destiny. With a long list of achievements already under his belt, (including dancing Ivan in Sleeping Beauty, the solo lead in Matthew Thompson’s Re:place and various scholarships), he is now looking forward to taking his career to the next level by adding choreography to his set list.

Arriving at SDC in 2005 he came under influence of the legendary Graeme Murphy. “It was such a thrill really,” he begins with a hint of regret. “I mean, we went through a lot together during the two and half years they were still here but I got a lot out of him and he got a lot out of me. It was amazing.”

Although Reed Luplau wishes that he could have spent
more time learning the choreographic ropes from Murphy, he recalls his time with the maestro fondly. “He gave me my first choreographic job for our Canberra season and when I first joined SDC we had lots of conversations because he knew I was interested in choreography. It wasn’t like I just went ‘hey, I’m into choreography’ or anything, we sort of just worked one on one and he just picked up on it.”

Looking forward, Reed sees choreography as the thing that will sustain him in dance. “When I finally hang up my ballet shoes I don’t want it to be like ‘oh, what can I do now?’ so I’m really working on my choreography and pushing the people around me and really trying to make it happen.”

Part of that ‘happening’ was the recent Dance Creation showcase in early November. Reed was selected, along with four others, to present a new short piece and he chose to create a work based on his experience of personal loss. Go is a daring, minimal and undeniably erotic piece that underscores Reed’s passion for creating emotive dance vignettes.

Of the whole Dance Creation experience, he says, “I was really interested to see not only my thing up there but also what everyone else was working on. We’re such a small community here so it’s interesting to see the next generation of choreographers and dancers come through.”

Reed Luplau, of course, fits into both categories, balancing both kinds of creative challenge. “And I’d say they both have their advantages and disadvantages,” he observes wryly. “But they inform one another well. I mean, I’m trying to find my own movement vocabulary. When I choreograph I try to embody in others the way I like to move and make them feel good about themselves while they’re dancing.”

However, the ‘performance’ anxiety offstage as choreographer is perhaps even greater than it is onstage dancing. “I’ve only really done two short works and, y’know, when people are really starting to watch, when they’re eyes are on you, its pretty nerve wracking.

Y’know, he can dance but can he choreograph? I dare say he can!