dyson industries :: ALONE TOGETHER

OVERVIEW

This immersive dance and sound installation looks at how we connect and disconnect in wider society. It works between the cracks of dance, lighting design, sound and audience experience, focusing on themes of aloneness and loneliness. The performance places the audience into moments of 'aloneness' to physically experience the work, questioning how we connect with each other and whether being alone is the same and being lonely.

This experiential approach asks the audience to choose how they engage with each other and with the performer, and encourages the audience to embody the meaning of the work rather than just witnessing it from a distance.

Stark lighting divides the audience both physically and psychically; large plastic walls are both public and domestic. The performer moves between outside and inside the walls and the sound is at some points targeted and intimate, and in others surrounding: as if the speaker is moving outside the plastic. The choreography works with these in-between states to orient and dis-orient the audience.

Western society often suggested that being alone must be equal to being lonely. This is reinforced by the proliferation of 'connected' online environments and advertising delivering the message that being alone creates isolation, loneliness and unhappiness. Psychiatrist Anthony Storr believes that without time alone, our ability to connect to others can be compromised, reflecting contemporary maladies of being time-poor, stressed or unhappy.

This work questions this state of play in our contemporary society. Is being alone equal to being lonely? Does alone-ness allow us to connect more deeply with others? Is loneliness actually about agency and isolation? What does this mean for each of us?

This work activates the intersection of dance, lighting, sound and audience movement and asks the audience to question how we connect and disconnect in contemporary society. It opens up discussions about disconnection and how we might form connections in societies where loneliness is now being discussed as an epidemic and new research suggesting it can shorten life spans.

ALONE TOGETHER

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This work has been funded by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland's Creative Grants Program.

It has also been supported by Queensland University of Technology through the Creative LAB and Swinburne University of Technology through the Office of Engagement.

April 2018
The Block performance space
Brisbane, QUT Precincts

CREATIVE TEAM

Choreographer / Director / Interviews
Clare Dyson

Performer
Gerard Van Dyck

Lighting design
Mark Dyson

Design
Bruce McKinven

Dramaturg
Kath Kelly

Phsychologist
Erin O'Connor

Sound
Mike Willmett

Original performer & writer
Brian Lucas

Photography & film
Mike Wilmett & Kate O'Sullivan

This work was made around a series of interviews from the general public discussing aloneness and loneliness. The artistic team wish to acknowledge these contributions and thank the individuals for their generosity.

TOURING

This work can be either a 50 minute performance with a single performer and up to 35 audience or a stand-alone sound installation that utilises motion sensor technologies to allow movement of the audience to activate sound and light.

This work is produced by Kath Papas Productions

Please contact Kath here for more information

CLARE DYSON PERFORMANCE
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