Chunky Move at Mass MoCA March 24 & 25
Co Sponsored with Jacob's Pillow
By: Pillow - Jan 13, 2012
March 24 and 25, Jacob’s Pillow Dance and MASS MoCA will co-present leading Australian contemporary dance company Chunky Move in Connected. Based in Melbourne, the company brings “blasts of choreographic excitement” (Jack Anderson, New York Times) to its performances. Their daring and innovative works have garnered fans around the world, with “strongly conceived and arrestingly choreographed and designed physical theatre” (The Times, U.K.). This engagement will mark Chunky Move’s first Berkshire County engagement since the 2007 Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival.
Connected is a collaborative dance work, with choreography by Chunky Move founder Gideon Obarzanek and an integrated sculpture by California-based visual artist Reuben Margolin. The work animates the physical relationship between eleven dancers and a kinetic sculpture made of wood, recycled plastic, paper, and steel. Constructed in real time during the performance, the sculpture has been described by dance critic Deborah Jowitt as “the most compelling presence onstage.” The work begins with effortless movement and builds in momentum as athletic and agile dancers twist and hurtle through space to a powerful electronic score by Oren Ambarchi and Robin Fix.
Founded in 1995, Chunky Move creates diverse dance works, ranging in site specific, stage, new-media, and installation pieces. Known for producing a distinct yet unpredictable brand of genre-defying dance performance, the company redefines the possibilities of contemporary dance. Chunky Move has performed throughout the U.K., Europe, Asia, and the Americas, including two week-long engagements at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in 2005 and 2007. Succinctly described by ARTS HUB, “Chunky Move has challenged expectations with works that have been innovative, eclectic, physical and bold...The company is Australia’s most successful contemporary dance export.”
As of July 1, 2012, Anouk van Dijk, internationally acclaimed choreographer based in TNetherlands, will commence her role as Chunky Move’s new CEO and Artistic Director. This U.S. Tour is one of the last performances under Gideon Obarzanek’s direction.