Profile on: Chloe Dear

Independent street arts producer

Chloe tells us about her whirlwind time producing work in the street arts and circus genres. 

Chloe Dear specialises in mid-large scale theatre work; generally outdoors, often aerial but always projects that are out of the ordinary. There is a strong international element to what Chloe does, partly because the genre of street arts is much more developed outside of Scotland and consequently more opportunities for work and partly because she loves the challenges of international projects.

'Since becoming an independent producer, I have gone from being unsure about whether I’d made the right move into having to turn down work.'

The past 12 months have found Chloe spending a month on a beach (creating Beachcomber with Boilerhouse/Waterlanders for the Oerol Festival, Terschelling, Netherlands); in front of the National Theatre, London with Storm Bringer by Avanti Display; on top of a neolithic hill fort in Dorset creating fire effects for Red Earth’s Enclosure; producing part of the Circus Futures showcase in Bristol and dotting about Europe, mainly France, establishing the foundations for future projects. Chloe also does a lot of travel for her work for the National Association for Street Artists steering group.

Now Chloe is looking for ways to work more in Scotland, both initiating home-grown projects and supporting what others are doing. Chloe says 'the street arts and circus genres are developing fast here with increasing opportunities for artists to create work and present it. There is greater recognition of the value of this work especially in its engagement with audiences. I’m very glad I made the decision to go independent and be part of these developments.'

Biography

Street/outdoor performance has been Chloë’s passion since her first exposure to the genre in 1989 although it was only in 1994 that she began to develop her knack for producing work in unusual settings and formats, particularly outdoors. Her preference has always been for highly physical and visual performance including circus and street theatre. In 1999, she joined Boilerhouse and was instrumental in the company’s shift in to street theatre. This has included producing The Bridge which played to 18,000 people in two days in Angers, France and 3600" which toured to 13 major European street festivals in 5 countries in 2005-06. Her favourite Boilerhouse show however, was the triumphant Running Girl.

In 2006, she was awarded one of the first two Creative Producer Bursaries by Scottish Arts Council. Although always retaining a fondness for the spectacular and the colourful, her particular specialism is content-driven work created for the outdoors and touring it internationally, Chloë is also greatly involved in the wider development of street arts. She is an active steering group member of both the National Association of Street Artists and Scottish Streetnet.  Chloe is also a Specialist Advisor for the Drama department of the Scottish Arts Council.