Australia Dancing - Dyson, Clare (1971

Dyson, Clare (1971 - )

Dyson, Clare: Self portrait of Clare Dyson, Cite internationale des arts in Paris , 2008

Clare Dyson was born in Canberra and received her initial dance training at the Dell Brady School of Ballet. She graduated from Queensland University of Technology in 1991 with a BA in Dance (majoring in choreography) and 1992 with first class honours in Visual Art (also majoring in choreography).

Dyson's first professional choreographic work was a commission to open the inaugural Asia-Pacific Art Triennial at the Queensland Art Gallery in collaboration with Filipino artist Roberto Villanova in 1993. Since 1998 she has worked closely with brother and lighting designer Mark Dyson, forming their production company Dyson Industries for the creation of new dance works. Dyson Industries has created works for national art galleries, festivals, theatres, federal government departments and various other site-specific events. Current and past projects are listed on the Dyson Industries website, available as a link under 'Research Materials' at the bottom of this page.

Much of Dyson's work occupies spaces other than theatres, spaces that are 'special or memorable to the inhabitants of a city', and involve the audience or incorporate installation. These features relate to Dyson's belief that 'art is about creating meaning: art as situated in the world, not removed or separate'. She often creates work that is site, time and performer specific and her projects are collaborative - working with visual artists, musicians, filmmakers, lighting designers and stage designers. In addition to Dyson's numerous performance works, notable collaborations include The Crab Room - a multi-discipline performance space that she co-founded in Brisbane in 1995, her short film Mourning Hours (2000) which screened internationally, and her work with landscape geologist Dr Steven Hill which was part of the Metis Art-Science Festival in 2005.

Early in her career, Dyson received an AMP Young Achievers Award in 1992 and represented Australia at the International Choreographic Workshop of the American Dance Festival in 1993. Since then she has received numerous awards and fellowships including a a Queens Trust Award (1997), a joint Australian Choreographic Centre fellowship with visual artist Rachael Jennings (1998), an inaugural Emerging Choreographers Grant (1998), and the Anne and Rodney Pearlman Fellowship (2006). She received a Djerassi artists' residency in the United States in 2006, and was artist-in-residence at Tanzfabrik in Berlin in 2007 and at the Australia Council's Cite Internationale des Arts in Paris in 2008. While artist-in-residence at the Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts in Brisbane from 2004 to 2008 she created Churchill's Black Dog, which won the 2006 Australian Dance Award for outstanding achievement in independent dance.

Dyson's PhD, an investigation into audience engagement with contemporary dance, was supported by an Australian Postgraduate Award. Her 2006 work Medeleven received a National Dance Project grant from the US for development and touring in 2010.

Research Materials

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Other resources

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