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checkin Five minutes with … Kate Denborough The performer, creative director and co-founder of dance-theatre company KAGE speaks with Kate Kunkel. their experience. My brother, David (who wrote Sundowner), and I then began to explore ways to do this. Tell us about the choreography on Sundowner. How did you get into the performing arts industry? I was always a hyperactive child … I trained as a dancer and actor but have been concentrating on directing dance-theatre for the past eight years. Once I'd graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts with a Bachelor of Dance, I decided I wanted to forge a career in the performing arts, and not long afterwards I co-founded KAGE with Gerard Van Dyck. What are your career highlights to date? Living in the Australia Council studio in Paris (in 2001) was an incredible experience. Taking Sundowner on such an enormous national tour. Receiving triennial funding from the Australia Council in 2011. Tell us about Sundowner and how the idea was conceived. Having young children while my own parents were getting older, I was becoming more aware of the cycle of life. I met a wonderful group of people through Alzheimer's Australia who were each caring for a loved one with dementia. Hearing their stories inspired me to create a performance that would do justice to It is very much a collaboration between all the cast and the creative team. We developed the work over an 18-month period in partnership with our community advisory group and Alzheimer's Australia. Much of the physical choreography was aimed at trying to capture Peggy's memories, as well as depicting her conflicting emotional states. What is it like working on a project that deals with such serious issues? It is wonderful, inspiring and very personal for all of the cast. At times very sad and at times incredibly life-affirming and heartening. What do you hope the audience takes away? I hope the audience will be able to see the human side of a much-publicised topic and realise that although there is nothing inspiring about Alzheimer's itself, the way people deal with the disease is incredibly inspiring. Alzheimer's does not mean the loss of the person but, rather, a change in the person. What has been the best part about working on Sundowner? Meeting people with dementia and their carers, and realising that among the many sad stories in the world there are so many stories of great and enduring love between people. "The choreography It was wonderful [tries] to capture to show the final Peggy's memories, performance to our as well as depicting advisory group and her conflicting for them to relate to emotional and connect with the states." work so strongly. Do you feel a connection with any of the characters? Yes, I feel great empathy with Peggy (played by Helen Morse) for her struggle and her great courage in trying to reach out to her children. I also identify closely with the role of the daughter and her attempt to understand and care for her mother. Kate says: What's next? My brother and I are developing a new show called Team of Life, which uses sports metaphors to enable young people who have experienced hardship to speak differently about their lives. Sundowner is touring Australia until June 29, 2013. For more information visit www.kage.com.au. 1