It’s rare to find a long-term artistic partner. Dancenorth Australia’s artistic director Kyle Page tells how he first met Chris Dyke at a workshop in South Australia over 10 years ago. He says it was like a professional, platonic moment of love at first sight.

“Everyone was overwhelmed by Chris’s uninhibitedness and generosity,” says Page Art Center. “And he and I just got into this improvisation and connection. It was magical.”

Dyke became a fixture at Dancenorth, working in artist-in-residence programs and eventually developing a solo show, Lionheartwhich took him to Townsville, Melbourne and Adelaide. In 2024, Dyke will be at the helm of his most ambitious project yet: Light in the darknesswhich is part of the Brisbane Festival 2024.

Dyke has Down syndrome, but this mainly benefits the professional partnership and artistic vision he shares with Page and Dancenorth.

“We are all good friends who work together,” says Dyke Art Center. These relationships have helped shape a contemporary dance work full of positivity. “When I dance, I feel powerful and strong,” Dyke continues, “and I want the audience to feel that too.”

Banksy and the power of the shadow

Dyke began to talk about his vision for Light in the darkness a few years ago. He was inspired by some of his artistic heroes, Freddie Mercury and David Bowie. In an early workshop, Dyke also spoke to his collaborators about the power of Banksy’s work.

“He was interested in what was happening in the shadows,” says Page Art Center. “The idea that Banksy is anonymous and only does his work at night, out of sight.” Concepts of the invisible and unseen form the basis for everything in Light in the darkness.

While other artists develop such themes in works that appear dark or tormented, Dyke’s focus on joy and generosity brings to light themes of hope and beauty in the shadows.

Each of Dyke’s artistic icons acts as a mirror in Light in the darkness to reveal Dyke’s perception of the world. Dancenorth describes the piece as life-affirming and transformative.

The rise of the artist community with Down syndrome

In Australia and around the world, more and more works are being created with and by artists with Down syndrome. These include verbatim theatre, visual art exhibitions and dance works such as Bring light into the darkness.

Light in the darkness is presented by Brisbane Festival and Choice, Passion, Life – a disability services provider. It illustrates the interface between contemporary and community artistic practice that has long been established in regional Queensland. But more than that: Light in the darkness also represents a significant culmination of the work of an artist who has received long-term artistic support and mentorship for over 10 years.

Artists with Down syndrome have also been involved in the helm of some of Australia’s most commercially successful films, including Cairo And Drive like a girlas well as those from more distant areas such as The Peanut Butter Falcon.

For many artists with Down syndrome, their art becomes more than a job or a hobby; it becomes their primary form of self-expression and interaction with the world. “For people with Down syndrome who may not find words easy,” says Down Syndrome Australia, “art can also build a bridge of communication.”

Down syndrome awareness and advocacy broke further barriers in 2024 with the viral campaign “Assume That I Can,” released as part of World Down Syndrome Day. In the ad, Down syndrome actress Madison Tevlin speaks to the camera about a series of prejudices. “Hey teacher,” she says, “you assume I can’t understand Shakespeare, so don’t teach me Shakespeare… Your assumption becomes my reality.”

In conversation with Kyle Page and Chris Dyke, it becomes clear that Dyke’s Down syndrome is not the focus of their artistic exchange. Their reciprocal relationship has led Page to view Dyke as an artist with an important point of view. “In the studio, Chris is agitated, penetrating, thinking and asking questions,” says Page. “The subtlety of his awareness never ceases to amaze.”

Banksy, friendship and dance: the secrets of “greatness”

When asked how other companies should work with artists with Down syndrome, Dyke is very clear. “At Dancenorth,” he says, Art Center“We are all good friends. I really enjoy working with Kyle.”

Page agrees. “One of the greatest joys of my life is my friendship with Chris,” he says.

Page and Dyke’s emphasis on their relationship reflects leading research in high-quality contemporary, community-based art projects. The relationship is the projecta book by artists and researchers Jade Lillie and Kate Larsen, emphasizes the importance of trust and mutual relationships.

“Community-led action is not an art form,” Lille and Larsen have said. “It is not an add-on. It is a way of working: an intensive collaboration between practitioners and communities to develop outcomes that are specific to that relationship, time and place. It is social, cultural, ecological and political and can be used as a framework to tell stories, explore problems and deliver beautiful and powerful projects.”

Regardless of the disability, the relationship between Page and Dyke is also a high-quality format for promoting emerging artists. Dyke’s partnership with Dancenorth is long-term and has changed dynamically over time, eventually developing into a large-scale work with Light in the darkness.

“Chris and I gently oscillate between the roles of mentor and mentee, each taking the step to support and encourage the other’s creative work and life,” says Page.

The work will be shown at the Thomas Dixon Centre in the West End in September as part of the Brisbane Festival.