Australian choreographer Lewis Major will make a long-awaited return to the stage on 3 July, performing in São Paulo, Brazil, as part of the 2025 Festival Cidade da Cultura. It will be his first performance in more than 15 years, following a life-altering back injury that ended his dancing career at just 21.
Major, who broke his back in his first year of ballet school due to a genetic condition, has since become one of Australia’s most distinctive independent choreographers. Yet performing alongside his company, Lewis Major Projects, remained out of reach—until now.
“Returning to the stage after injury, loss, heartbreak, and a long hiatus feels like reclaiming a part of myself I thought was long gone,” he told Dance Australia in an exclusive interview. “Physically, it’s been a slow, humbling process – relearning trust in my body’s capacity while trying to honour its new limits. Emotionally, it’s exhilarating and vulnerable.”
Major credits much of his return to the support of House of Oz, a UK-based platform led by Australian philanthropist Georgie Black. After discovering his work at the 2024 Adelaide Fringe, Black presented Triptych and Lien at the Edinburgh Fringe later that year, where both shows sold out and earned critical acclaim.
“The support of my dear friend Georgie Black and the financial backing of House of Oz has been transformative,” he said. “Her belief in me provided the stability to rebuild – slowly, very slowly – not just as a choreographer, but as a performer.”
The impact was immediate. “Performing there, risk-free and with full support, gave our work global visibility in the world’s largest arts marketplace,” he explained. “We received 34 offers of onward touring last year. That will take us three years of performances, both here at home and abroad, to fulfil.”
With the stability of a three-month European tour in 2025, Major was able to begin retraining his body. His return to performance comes with Triptych Redux, an evolution of his original work that will premiere in Brazil before touring to the UK’s Latitude Festival (24–25 July) and the Edinburgh Fringe (2–25 August, excluding 5, 12 and 19 August).
“Revisiting the work as a performer has revealed hidden layers – the tension between control and surrender, intimacy, closeness, and the raw immediacy of being inside the movement,” he said. “It’s deepened my understanding of the work’s emotional architecture and helped me refine it with each performance.”
Performing again has also reminded Major of the demands his dancers face. “I’ve also realised that it is tough to be a full-time dancer,” he said. “When you’re also managing a company, tech directing, logistics, tour planning, producing… it’s nearly impossible.”
“I really need to take better care of my body than even most other dancers, due to injury and just getting old, yet I probably do the least prep, recovery, warm up and self-care. The number of times I skip class to attend an urgent Zoom call or production meeting is laughable.”
Despite the challenges, the emotional resonance of the work has deepened with time. “Performing it post-accident and in the wake of massive life changes has given the piece new meaning,” he said. “All the themes of fragility and resilience, connection and loss now feel deeply personal.”
With a return to Edinburgh on the horizon and international dates locked in, Major reflects on the journey with gratitude and caution. “Maybe this return to the stage will be short-lived,” he said. “I’d much rather be creating new work than performing in my old stuff. But for now, it does feel like a full-circle moment.”
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