Chris Dyke

During his No Show residency, Chris explored concepts inspired by Banksy, David Bowie, Queen and the colours red and black. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Significantly, this is one of the first times an artist with an intellectual disability has led the creative process as the choreographer of a new work with a contemporary dance company in Australia.⁠

Chris studied painting at the Sydney College of the Arts, filmmaking with Bus Stop Films and dance at the Adelaide College of the Arts. Chris was a founding member of the First Flight Crew, an 8-piece hip-hop outfit led by Aussie B-Boy Morganics, with over 30 performances under their belts, including Carriageworks, Government House and the Powerhouse Museum.

He was awarded a scholarship to attend the AusDance Youth Dance Festival (AYDF) in 2012 and performed in The Shades of Us. In 2013 Chris moved from Sydney to Adelaide to join Restless Dance Theatre to pursue his dream of becoming a professional dancer.In 2013 he also began to work with mentor Kyle Page, and in 2015 was appointed Dancenorth National Disability Ambassador.

Chris has subsequently travelled to Townsville twice a year to work with Kyle and the Dancenorth ensemble. Collaborative works include; Lionheart, which premiered at AYDF 2017 in Melbourne and was performed during Dancenorth’s Tomorrow Makers 2018 season, as well as the Australian Dance Theatre (ADT) ‘Rough Draft’ season; and Common Colours (short film) which premiered at the Bold Contemporary Dance Festival in Canberra and at ADT’s Rough Draft season.

Chris has also performed in many other works, seasons and festivals, including but not limited to; Intimate Space directed by Michelle Ryan at the 2017 Adelaide Festival and at the 2018 Bleach* Festival, and in the opening sequence of the Commonwealth Games Closing Ceremony.

Further performances include; The Audrey’s music video Baby are you there; To Look Away; a short film by Sophie Hyde which premiered in ’24 Frames’ at Carriageworks Sydney; Michelle Ryan’s Touched and In the Balance. Chris also performed in Creating the Spectacle, a collaboration with UK artist Sue Austin for the 2018 Adelaide Film Festival, and in Zizanie, directed by Meryl Tankard for the 2019 Adelaide Festival.

Chris has many projects underway and in development, including; Michelle Ryan’s Seeing through Darkness (slated for release at the Art Gallery South Australia 2020), and Antony Hamilton’s Rewards for the Tribe, in Coventry, UK as part of the City of Culture festivities in 2021.

His accolades include; Australian Council for the Arts grant recipient; South Australian Arts’ Carclew Fellowship, and he was a finalist in South Australian Young Achievers Awards.