ABOUT HELEN

I have been involved in the performing arts most of my life, studying both dance and art and beginning my career in Australia as a ballet dancer. On moving to England I completed a humanities degree with the Open University while raising my two children. After eleven years the family returned to Australia and I became the Victorian Education Department’s first full-time secondary dance teacher. This was followed by three years as a lecturer in movement and dance at the Institute of Early Childhood Development (a branch of the University of Melbourne at the time), and freelance work as a choreographer and therapeutic arts worker. I have also been active in improvisational dance and Playback Theatre.

I love writing and have written short stories and articles on spirituality and the arts for non-mainstream magazines. The biography ‘On the Inside – An Intimate Portrait of Sheila Florance’ is my first book to be published. More books, including an almost completed novel are on the way.

I was married to Sheila’s son Peter Oyston, a theatre director and visual artist, for fifteen years. Our children are Dominique and Benjamin Oyston. Dominique, in true stage tradition, is following in her grandma’s footsteps. She is a classically trained singer, currently performing with the popular music theatre group Pot-Pourri and Opera Circus. Benjamin followed a different path and is an environmental scientist with a doctorate in geology.

Benjamin in his doctoral gown and cap


Dominique dressed up for an opening night