Throughout his life, Winston Churchill - one of the greatest leaders of the 20th Century - was shadowed by violent mood swings, fits of depression and periods of emotional doubt. He felt that he was followed by this unpredictable darkness and uncertainty.

He was followed by his black dog.

Churchill's Black Dog looks at the darkness of the human psyche - how we all get through the day; particularly on a bad day, or month or year... This work looks at all of our black dogs, in their many guises using movement, text and visual imagery to create a landscape of dislocation and isolation: two common characteristics of depression. It focuses on four characters who journey through their days and lives in worlds that are distorted by paranoia, fears and darkness.

A 60 minute work, Churchill's Black Dog premiered in Canberra in late 2005 and was then re-developed for a thrust stage for Brisbane Festival 2006 where it received rave reviews and audience acclaim. It was nominated for a Best Choreography Award and was winner of the Best Independent Dance Award at the Australian Dance Awards (2006).

This work was created in collaboration with four highly talented performers who each have an independent dance practice of national standing: Brian Lucas, Avril Huddy, Vanessa Mafe and Elise May.

Clare Dyson
Clare Dyson is a leading independent artist in Queensland contemporary dance who has been nationally recognised for her innovative and unique dance creations. Clare's dance works meld the practices of dance, installation, visual metaphor and audience in a combination that is unique in Australia. For Dyson, art is about creating meaning: art as situated in the world, not removed or separate, and her focus on audience development is integral to this vision. Much of her work occupies spaces other than theatres - spaces that are special or memorable to the inhabitants of a city - involving the audience or incorporating installation.

In the last six years, Dyson and her team have returned to theatre spaces, creating over six intimate performance works that offer the audience new performative experiences both within theatres and in new performance spaces designed to entertain and engage. Clare was awarded the Anne and Rodney Pearlman Fellowship to attend the prestigious Djerassi Residency Program in the US. She was profiled as a featured artist in the Australia Council's 'Dance Down Under' program in New York (2007) and, as a result, was successful in attracting a National Dance Project Production grant for her new work-in-development Medeleven. Once produced, this work will receive a NDP Touring grant to tour the US. Clare has just been awarded the Cite Internationale des Arts Residency from the Australia Council to work in Paris in 2008 to further develop her work on audience engagement in contemporary performance.

Contact:

Jennifer Barry
Keep Breathing
PO Box 5
Flemington VIC 3031
Tel +61 3 9329 4044
Fax +61 3 9329 4022
Mob 0411 126 355
jennifer@keepbreathing.com.au
www.keepbreathing.com.au
www.dysonindustries.com.au