Chunky Move - CONNECTED

Chunky Move
CONNECTED
Malthouse, Melbourne
March

Set in contrast to the highly digitised environments of recent Chunky Move works, Connected brings a purity and immediacy that are compelling. A combination of dynamic and lyrical movement, sculpture, sound and narrative intertwine to enact a coherent and memorably performed theme that reveals the relationships between each of these elements. Obarzanek’s choreography is muscular yet quirky and realised with calm control by the five dancers.

Far from competing with one another, each strand in the “story” of Connected is perfectly articulated and never dominates the other elements. From the highly charged first moments, bodies collide, embrace and roll, suggesting the causal nature of the various components that the work goes on to explore. There is throughout an interplay of pulling, resisting and yielding that energises the choreography.

In the early stages of the performance, Reuben Margolin’s imposing sculpture, taking up so much physical and psychic space, may appear to be set to dominate the work. The quiet and almost secretive adjustments the dancers made to the structure suggest that they may become incidental. However, this is never the case and the transitions from pure dance to the inter-relatedness of other elements are consistently well judged.

Connected is a very deliberate work. The balance of elements is assured and purposeful. At the times when dancers are attached to the sculpture, the relational nuances are enacted to enhance both. The full dimensions of the sculpture are only revealed by the movement of the dancers’ bodies. The sculpture itself is one that invites interaction, yet rather than the audience being in among it, it is brought to the audience in many forms. The greater the symmetry of the sculpture achieved through the dancers’ movement, the more constrained and contorted the dancers’ bodies become, bringing a vulnerability to the human elements of the performance. So, even as the sculpture is completed and resolved by the dancers, their movement is determined by it and the audience’s access to both dancers and sculpture depend on this relationship.

Once an expectation is set up of the connectedness between human and sculptural form, it is abruptly broken by a strong narrative section which contextualises and helps to resolve the relationships between dancers and sculpture and overlays its own separate meaning of connectedness.

This is a work to be enjoyed on many levels. It has choreographic beauty. The dancers show precision, strength and individuality. It is also ambitious without being cluttered or over-worked. This work invites multiple entry points for both a dance and general audience to connect.

– SUSAN BENDALL