alone
together
dance, installation, soundalone-ness, loneliness, together, alone
“One can experience loneliness in two ways: by feeling lonely in the world or by feeling the loneliness of the world.”
Emil M. Cioran
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 suggests 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?
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
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
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.