Latest Melbourne News

With exciting new dates in the USA and China confirmed, Chunky Move, Victoria's flagship contemporary dance company, will be notching up 205,000 kilometres this year and confirming  its position as Australia’s biggest contemporary dance export.

The company is delighted to announce its performances at the Pittsburgh Australia Festival, a multi disciplinary celebration of contemporary Australian art, presented by the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust and taking place from October 10 for five weeks. Chunky Move is the only Australian company invited to present two works and will perform both GLOW and I Want To Dance Better At Parties. The Pittsburgh Australia Festival is supported by the Australia Council, the Australian Government’s arts funding and advisory body.

Chunky Move has also been officially invited by a prestigious group of Chinese theatre companies to present GLOW in a Festival of Australian Theatre in Beijing and Shanghai in October/November 07. The Chinese companies include Beijing Oriental Pioneer Theatre in association with the National Theatre Company of China, Chaoyang Cultural Centre, Beijing Dramatists’ Association, Beijing Artist Management Corporation and the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre. This is the first time that an invitation of this nature, and on this scale has been issued to Australian performing arts companies from the Chinese theatre industry. This will also be the first time that Australian performing arts will be showcased on this scale in China’s capital city Beijing.

“As one of Australia’s leading contemporary dance companies we are excited about our increased touring activity which promotes Australian dance worldwide”, said Chunky Move’s Executive Producer, Rachael Azzopardi. “Over the last six months, Chunky Move’s touring activity has doubled, with initial indications for 2008 likely to lead to even more growth. This makes Chunky Move one of the biggest arts exporters in Australia, which is something we’re excited about and proud of.”

In 2007, Chunky Move will perform in 17 cities including Melbourne, Sydney, Darwin, Adelaide, Perth, Chicago, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, Vancouver, Beckett, Christchurch, Groningen, Shanghai, Beijing, Dresden, and Pittsburgh, and seven countries, including Australia, US, Canada, NZ, China, the Netherlands, and Germany.

The company will perform GLOW at the Melbourne International Arts Festival in October.

Founded by Artistic Director Gideon Obarzanek in 1995, Chunky Move has earned an enviable reputation for producing a distinct yet unpredictable brand of genre-defying dance performance. Chunky Move’s work constantly seeks to redefine what is or what can be contemporary dance within an ever-evolving Australian culture.