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Glow
Presented by: Chunky Move
Venue: Chunky Move Studio, Southbank
Reviewer: Luke Taylor
Date Reviewed: 17th October, 2007
Glow, conceptualised and choreographed by renowned choreographer
Gideon Obarzanek has returned to its home at the Chunky Move Studios
in Melbourne after premiering there in 2006 to much acclaim.
Obarzanek best describes this work by saying Glow is an illuminating
choreographic essay. Beneath its sophisticated video tracking
system, a lone organic being mutates in and out of human form into
unfamiliar, sensual and grotesque creature states.
In short this work marries seamlessly a combination previously
unexplored in Australia of dance and technology. Utilising the
latest in interactive video technologies a digital landscape is
generated in real time in response to the dancer’s movement.
This piece feature a solo dancer performing on a crisp white floor
with an infrared camera tracking system suspended above the space
that senses the dancer’s movements, albeit at times very subtle and
a projection onto the space that lights the piece. I could in all
honesty elaborate much further on how this is achieved but believe
me, the proof is in the pudding and must be seen to be believed.
From my experience of seeing dance theatre and any other theatre
mediums, generally the artist is complimented by lighting or
technology rather than the artist appearing to be controlled by it,
as seems to be the case in this piece.
As a lone entity performing, the pressure is on a dancer to the
desired outcome or narrative alone, whereas in this piece the
projections combined with the haunting and at times unsettling
soundtrack feature as an opposing character thanks to the innovative
music and sound design by Luke Smiles.
The choreography, with a predominance of floor work, was genius with
its subtleties portrayed as effectively as some of its more rigorous
combinations. It draws you inside the world and indeed perhaps
inside the mind of the dancer performing it, leaving you wondering
if there’s a balance within the piece or whether the dancer is
controlling the projections or vice versa.
The piece is incredibly demanding with violent guttural vocal bursts
from time to time and one would imagine tiring, however not for an
instant do we see a loss of focus or drop in dramatic purpose much
to the credit of its solo performer.
Dancers, I’m sure, will appreciate this piece for its form, it’s
balanced and it many respects the complexity of its design, but this
piece unlike many others in the dance theatre genre is far more
accessible to a more general audience being that its design and use
of staging technology is as visually stimulating as the actual
dance.
If you’ve never seen any of Chunky Moves works before, I strongly
suggest this is a great baptism of fire as they are at their best
with this work. Performed in the round, albeit actually in the
square, this piece is far from square this piece provides a
different narrative/interpretation depending on what each individual
takes away from it.
Something I did take away from it was a continuing appreciation of
Chunky Move as a company for pushing the boundaries of modern and
interpretive dance and also a feeling that dance is a constantly
evolving medium that can move you profoundly in a heart beat.
This work, although short with a duration of approximately
twenty-five minutes, is palatable for all crowds offering an insight
into the theatre of dance theatre and should not be missed in its
return season closing October 27th, make of this piece
what you will but see it or the only thing you’ve made is a big
mistake.
Luke was last seen on stage in Opera Australia’s production of
Turandot, prior to that in the Australian tour of EUROBEAT:THE
MUSICAL. He has recently returned from dancing overseas and around
Australia on various projects. Luke is filling his time
choreographing and working in association with Arts Inc on some
exciting new projects. Familiar to many of you from his amateur
theatre days Luke was last seen in Whitehorse’s production of West
Side Story as Bernardo. |