Leah Shelton

Background

About Leah Shelton

Leah Shelton is a contemporary performance‐maker, choreographer and costume designer whose work has toured internationally. Leah has also worked as a producer and arts manager for organisations including Brisbane Festival, QPAC, Out of the Box Festival, Ausdance Qld and Youth Arts Queensland. Additionally, Leah has also worked as producer for her own independent works and for her work with Polytoxic dance theatre. Originally dance‐trained, she has a diverse performance background, including over a decade working in the Suzuki Actor Training Method with physical theatre company Frank Theatre (ozfrank.com). Leah is a core member of acclaimed dance‐theatre ensemble Polytoxic (polytoxiclovesyou.com), whose signature style is inspired by the traditions of the Pacific, the guts of physical performance and the crimes of pop‐culture. Leah is also co‐founder of The Brides of Frank (thebridesoffrank.com), a tight dynamic outfit of five females who create intense, choreographic and satirical performances. She is a key collaborator on The Short Message Service, an interdisciplinary performance work which premiered at The Arts Centre and uses SMS to explore the ethics of control. As a solo artist, Leah creates physical work that is highly visual, theatrical and absurdist. Her adoration of design, illusion and the darkly absurd has seen her squash her whole body inside a suitcase, co‐star with a (fake) gorilla, and die onstage at least 132 times, train with SITI in New York, observe Robert LePage with the Metropolitan Opera, and most recently tour throughout Holland and Belgium as a guest performer with the divas of La La Parlour.