it figures... the dance company with the oogiest name ("chunky move") gives the most inventive performance of this summer's ADF.
well, actually, we're not even halfway through the 6-week season, but i'm placing bets that there's little chance anything could top what i experienced tonight in reynolds theatre.
From the Herald-Sun:
Just when people think they've seen it all at the American Dance Festival, including dancers gliding across an ice-covered stage, sliding across a water-slicked tarp and even flying above the stage, here comes Chunky Move with its revolving stage.The Australian modern dance company performs the hourlong "Tense Dave" on the revolving stage today through Wednesday at the ADF.
The 1-foot-high stage weighs a ton and measures 18 feet in diameter. On it, the company spins a surreal tale of Tense Dave and the strange people he meets as his world spirals out of control. Dancers face challenges as well as they perform on a stage that's continually moving and goes as fast as eight revolutions a minute.
From the ADF website:
Making its ADF debut, the Australian-based Chunky Move brings its blend of dance and theater to the ADF stage with Tense Dave, "one of the most arresting works of physical theatre."
Set to an original score from Australian composer, Franc Tetaz, Tense Dave occurs on a continually revolving platform, "bisected by movable walls that expand, contract, disappear and reappear, giving the sense of an unstable, nightmarish world."
there are two remaining performances: tuesday night and wednesday night. even if you think you don't like modern dance, you should go see this. this show is not very "dancey". it's more dramatic than athletic... but that's not even an accurate assessment of what it is. it's continual rotation, pure creativity, and raw emotion. i enjoyed this show immensely.
call 684-4444 for tickets.
and for even more information, here is the official "tense dave" website, which contains quite a few video clips of the show.
GO!
Posted by xta at June 20, 2005 11:26 PM | TrackBackWow. I just checked out a few of the video clips ... and WOW.
Posted by: Lulu at June 21, 2005 11:28 AMADF is so cool! I am so inspired after seeing a performance...I need to find good modern dance here...hmmm.
Posted by: John Boy at June 21, 2005 01:18 PMjohn-
an israeli company is actually performing at ADF next week: emanuel gat (http://www.gatgat.com/index.asp )
Monday thru Wednesday
June 27 - 29, 8pm
Reynolds Industries Theater
The Israeli contemporary dance company, Emanuel Gat Dance, makes its first ADF appearance with two works by Emanuel Gat. The Rite of Spring, set to the masterful Stravinsky score of the same name, blends the "sensuality of the salsa…into the drifting percussion of the music." (Le Monde) Gat has created a stirring interpretation of the infamous score, leaving audiences spellbound. Also, the program includes Winter Journey, a stunning duet for two men heralded as "an example for musical intelligence and sensibility," (Midi Libre, France) and set to the music of Frantz Schubert’s Winterreise.
Posted by: christa at June 21, 2005 01:25 PM