Hellen Sky

Founding member of Circus Oz, The Australian Performing Group, Dancehouse and Company In Space, Hellen Sky has achieved international recognition for her innovative choreography and direction.

Hellen Sky is a digital choreographer/performer/director/writer whose work poetically bridges the human and the technological. Working collaboratively with peers from arts, science and computer design her work often uses data generated by the body to affect the relationships between spoken word, sound, image, movement, virtual and physical architectures.  Sky’s practice is a formidable dance between the senses, finding form as both performance and installation.

Works such as ‘Escape Velocity’, ‘ Data Dancing’, ‘Downloading Downunder’ ,’SIGGRAPH’, ‘MDDF2’ and ‘Digital Now’ questioned bodies, senses and perceptions.  More recent work such as ‘CO 3’ and ‘Future Physical’ explored concepts of presence, and identity within virtual reality.   ‘The Light Room’, a new-media movement opera, engaged with physical and virtual architectural worlds as a metaphor for life bridging the cusp of 20th and 21st centuries.

Evolving through performance and image making, Hellen has extended into and through new technologies. She collaborates with composers, performers, scientists, academics, designers, writers, architects, interface programmers to develop scores and systems. These use movement to alter the relationship between multiple media and  total choreographies for performative events, linking virtual and physical terrains to the general public.

Hellen was awarded a two-year Fellowship from the Australia Council in 2004 to research and develop her skills in writing, performance, editing and interactive software design for performance events. This research and development will assist Helen to redevelop three works:  ‘Liquid Time’ which involves texts images and projection environments, audio and choreographic scores; ‘Making Light of Gravity’ - dance and technology symposia and festival; ‘Deep Space’ between body and cosmos with Paul Bourke - a semi -immersive installation; and draft scores for new work  -  ‘Darker Edge of Night its about time’.