Bob Lockyer

guest artist

Bob Lockyer worked for over 40 years at the BBC where he was responsible for the dance programs on BBC Television. Working with the Arts Council of England, he created Dance for the Camera. This is a series of short dance works made especially for the camera and to date over fifty videos have been made and seen in the UK and around the world. The programs have been screened at festivals worldwide and won numerous awards. Programs he has produced have gone on to win major awards such Prix Italia, International Emmys and the Prague d’Or. In 2002 the series he originated with Deborah Bull, The Dancer’s Body was broadcast on BBC TWO and went on to win the Dance Screen Award for that year.

Among the choreographers he has worked with over the years include Frederick Ashton, Merce Cunningham, Robert Cohan, Peter Wright, Kenneth MacMillian, Lloyd Newson, Christopher Bruce and Siobhan Davies. For Christmas 1998 he created Dance Night, four and a half hours of dance programming hosted by Deborah Bull and comedian Alexie Sayle. The night included dance performance as well as comedy and documentary. For many years Bob Lockyer was also responsible for all the major dance performance broadcasts by The Royal Ballet from the Royal Opera House, London including The Nutcracker, Firebird, Coppelia and Les Noces.

Along with his work at the BBC, for ten years Bob Lockyer was the first chair of Dance UK which was formed to be a voice for dance in Britain and which also initiated and oversees the Healthier Dancer Program. This program invests in research and publishes reports and papers to improve the health and welfare of dancers. For many years he has also lectured around the world and taught “Dance for the Camera” workshops in the UK, South Africa, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United States. Many of his pupils have gone on to make award winning dance performance programs, documentaries and screen dances of their own.