Dance Massive - Can we Dance

CAN WE DANCE? YES WE CAN!

Experience dance across the city as never before with Dance Massive - a two-week showcase featuring outstanding Australian contemporary dance work from both established and emerging companies and choreographers.

From the energetic and playful to the contemplative and intimate, this collection of work is a visually spectacular series of sensory and physical experiences. Comprising a mix of full length and shorter works, the Massive program includes 14 contemporary performances presented over 12 days at three inner-Melbourne venues - Arts House, Malthouse Theatre and Dancehouse.

Dance Massive represents a fresh approach towards new and sustainable ways of imagining and realising a concentration of dance programming nationally to benefit the sector and the artists involved while at the same time engaging audiences, in what is arguably the creative epicentre of contemporary dance in Australia.

Melbourne audiences will get a chance to fill their dance card with productions by some of the country's seminal dance figures in Russell Dumas and Helen Herbertson along with the new force of Rogue who burst onto the scene at last year's Next Wave Festival. And if that's not enough, the program also includes established companies such as Chunky Move, Lucy Guerin Inc and Splintergroup.

Dance Massive is presented by Arts House, Malthouse Theatre, Dancehouse in conjunction with Ausdance Victoria and with the support of the Australia Council for the Arts and Arts Victoria.

ROADKILL Splintergroup

"Fuelled by a collective creativity and inventive stagecraft, it is dark, primitive and very exciting." Daily Express

A couple are stranded in the middle of nowhere with a car that won't start next to a phone box that doesn't work.

This is a road trip into the agoraphobia and desolation of the Australian outback: a place of dreams and dust and ghosts. A land where backpackers disappear and tragedy strikes the vulnerable. Situated within the minds of its three performers, roadkill explores their fears and their twisted perceptions of the landscape and its dangers. roadkill is stunning, edge of your seat dance theatre: highly physical and ultimately intensely unnerving.

Choreographed by Splintergroup, roadkill deals with these psychological states through a vocabulary of intense physicality. Using unorthodox, amazingly irregular movement and intense drama, roadkill is part road movie, part excavation into the urban legends and paranoia that surround the centre of this continent. There is genuine danger and risk in the work.

roadkill was produced by Brisbane Powerhouse and Dancenorth in association with Sasha Waltz and Guests with choreography by Splintergroup and premiered in Townsville in June 2007. Its European premiere in October 2007 was by invitation of the Barbican Centre in London. The two-week season was part of Dance Umbrella - London's annual international festival of contemporary dance and of the Barbican's 2007 Ozmosis program, which was a showcase for some of Australia's most inventive artistic talent.

Choreography: Splintergroup, Performers: Gavin Webber, Grayson Millwood, Sarah- Jayne Howard, Dramaturgy: Andrew Ross, Sound Designer: Luke Smiles, Lighting Designer: Mark Howett, Rehearsal Director: Michelle Ryan Produced by Brisbane Powerhouse and Dancenorth, presented by Arts House and Mobile States.

roadkill is toured by Performing Lines for Mobile States: Touring Contemporary Performance Australia. Mobile States is a national touring initiative of the Theatre Board of the Australia Council. It has received support from the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.

LISTING INFORMATION

Venue: Arts House, Meat Market, 5 Blackwood Street, North Melbourne
Dates: 5 - 8 March
Tickets: Full $25 Conc $18
Times: Thu - Sat 7.30pm, Sun 5pm
Bookings: 03 9639 0096 or www.dancemassive.com.au


LAWN Splintergroup

lawn, n. (lôn) 1. Ground that is covered with grass, kept closely mowed. 2. A situation or condition that results from a lack of sunlight, usually characterised by withdrawal from reality, illogical patterns of thinking, delusions and or dreams of open spaces. 3. An open space between woods.

For the first time in Melbourne, the internationally acclaimed dance theatre production lawn arrives in March at the Malthouse.. Music, design, drama and movement combine to produce a dance theatre horror fantasy that has gained Australian based Splintergroup a distinguished international reputation. lawn explores of both isolation and the quintessentially Australian desire for wide open spaces. In a small one-room apartment high above the snow covered streets of Berlin a man is dreaming of the open lawns of his childhood. Beneath the wallpaper are the shadows of former tenants. In the walls and in his clothes there is a darker past he is trying to repress, but it keeps crawling out.

Accompanied by a live score composed and performed by Iain Grandage (Vamp, Babes in The Wood), lawn is an expertly crafted horror fantasy.Designed by Zoe Atkinson (The Odyssey) it is a surreal visual experience that has a timeless quality to dark imagery that is reminiscent of Marc Caro and and Jean-Pierre Jeunet's films (Delicatessen, The City of Lost Children).

Conceived in Berlin and developed in Australia at Brisbane's Powerhouse, lawn has been widely lauded by critics and audiences alike for its striking images, intense theatrical movement and ironic sense of play. lawn has toured Australia; Sydney and Perth Arts Festivals, and internationally; in Singapore, Freiberg and Berlin.

Splintergroup consist of a changing base of collaborators who are spcifically chosen for each project. The group will perform both lawn and roadkill for Melbourne's inaugural Dance Massive event from 3-15 March, 2009. Produced by Brisbane Powerhouse and Dancenorth, presented by Malthouse Theatre in association with Arts House. Toured by Mobile States.

LISTING INFORMATION

Venue: Merlyn Theatre, C.U.B. Malthouse, 113 Sturt Street, Southbank
Dates: 11- 14 March, Previews 11 & 12 March
Tickets: $24 - $37
Times: Wed 11 (Preview) & Thu 12, 8pm, Fri 13, 6:30pm & 9pm, Sat 14, 8pm
Bookings: M-Tix 03 9685 5111 or www.dancemassive.com.au

Mortal Engine Chunky Move

WINNER 2008 Helpmann Award for Best Visual or Physical Theatre production

Following resounding praise at the 2008 Sydney and Edinburgh Festivals, Melbourne's premiere dance company Chunky Move arrive at the Malthouse for the Melbourne debut of Mortal Engine.

Mortal Engine is unique in the dance world with its interactive fusion of live performance and digital technology. Essentially it's an exploration of relationships, in which the blurred demarcations between the live body and a dramatically unstable environment of modern technology strikes at the chords of communication and human connection. Mortal Engine is about the pull and tug of our everyday lives - the way people reveal their duality as they move towards an ever-changing future. In this critically acclaimed work, choreographer Gideon Obazarnek and his collaborators have pushed the boundaries between dance, technology, psychology, emotion and philosophy to an extent not seen before in live performance. Sensory illusionary worlds shape shift from recognisable figures to Rorschach blots, underpinned by a soundscore turning passions into devouring monsters.

Here, somewhere between waking and sleeping, between thought and feeling, lies a body that is possessed but cannot be controlled - where our physical limits are merely an illusion. Kinetic energy fluidly metamorphoses from the human figure into light image, into sound and back again.

Mortal Engine is also truly 'live' each night; it has no pre-rendered video, light or laser images. Similarly the music mix is open allowing various sounds to be completely generated from movement data. In addition, pre-composed phrases are triggered by the dancers' motion or by the operator in relation to where the performers are in any given sequence. This essentially means that there are no fixed timelines and the production flexes according to the rhythm of the performers as they create a shimmering illusory world where light and shade represent the most perfect or the most sinister of souls.

Mortal Engine is at the Malthouse as part of the inaugural Dance Massive showcasing the best of Australian contemporary dance. Dance Massive is an initiative created to showcase contemporary dance produced by Artshouse, Dance House, Malthouse Theatre and Ausdance Victoria.

LISTING INFORMATION

Venue: Merlyn Theatre, C.U.B. Malthouse, 113 Sturt Street, Southbank
Dates: 4 - 8 March
Tickets: $28 - $37
Times: Wed (Preview) & Thu 8pm, Fri 6.30pm & 9pm, Sat 2pm & 8pm, Sun 5.30pm
Bookings: M-Tix 03 9685 5111 or www.dancemassive.com.au

Huit á Huit Russell Dumas

An artisinal's observation of dancecraft and practice for the time being- this is not contemporary dance. Influential Australian dance master Russell Dumas has created a series of pas de deux that navigate the audience/performer relationship.

Huit á Huit is a immersive and provocative work comprising live performance, film and installation.

Huit á Huit is presented over four days across the three Dancehouse spaces. Russell Dumas is an influential figure in Australian dance having taught many of Australia's leading choreographers. He trained in a number of dance styles and has performed with some of the world's most reputable dance companies, including; London Festival Ballet, Ballet Rambert, Nederlands Dans Theater, Trisha Brown and Twyla Tharp. In 1976 he co-founded Dance Exchange which he continues to direct.

Choreography: Russell Dumas, Dancers: Jonathan Sinatra, Linda Sastradipradja, Rebecca Hilton, Stuart Shugg, Philipa Rothfield, Deanne Butterworth, Sarah Cartwright, David Young, Madeleine Krenek, Simone Litchfield, Gabbi Cass, Nicole Jenvey, Christine Babinskas, Kelly Jirsa Presented by Dancehouse and Dance Exchange

LISTING INFORMATION

Venue: Dancehouse, 150 Princes St, Carlton
Dates: 3 - 6 March
Tickets: $10 - $18
Times: 4pm - 7pm
Bookings: 03 9347 2860 or www.dancemassive.com.au

UNTRAINED Lucy Guerin Inc

A new work by Lucy Guerin Inc which questions our ideas about what is worth watching in a performance. This casual theatrical exploration presents four men, in a humourous and courageous examination of themselves and their art.

Two of these men are highly skilled, experienced dancers and two are acclaimed visual artists with no movement training whatsoever. The complex, refined movements that one man can do with ease, another can only approximate. But there are things that an untrained body can do that a trained one can't.

All performers are given the same instructions. How they execute them constructs an individual portrait of each man and also an unavoidable comparison between them. This evolution of information, built up through units of action, points out what they have in common and where their physical histories set them apart.

Lucy Guerin began choreographing as an independent artist in New York City in 1993. In 1996 she returned to Australia and in 2002 created Lucy Guerin Inc. which is now recognised as one of Australia's most innovative and decorated contemporary dance companies.

Concept/ Direction: Lucy Guerin, Performers: Ross Coulter, Antony Hamilton, Simon Obarzanek, Byron Perry, Producer: Michaela Coventry Presented by Arts House and Lucy Guerin Inc.

LISTING INFORMATION

Venue: Arts House, Meat Market, 5 Blackwood Street, North Melbourne
Dates: 11 - 14 March
Tickets: Full $25 Conc $18
Times: Wed & Thu 7.30pm, Fri 6.30pm & 9.30pm, Sat 4pm & 7.30pm (Post show artist talk 12 March)
Bookings: 03 96390096 or www.dancemassive.com.au

ROGUE: A VOLUME PROBLEM, THE COUNTING, PUCK

Rogue is a bunch of dance renegades who've recently stampeded out through the mirrored walls of the VCA, beyond the Next Wave (2008) and into the Tower Theatre at the CUB Malthouse as part of Melbourne's inaugural multi-venue contemporary dance showcase, Dance Massive 2009 (Malthouse, Arts House, Dancehouse, Ausdance Victoria).

This brash troupe represents some of Australia's most promising contemporary dance talent, who have quickly established a reputation as the 'ones to watch' in Melbourne's independent dance scene.

The triple bill that makes up fragments is work that sets out to exploit the body's senses and explores the separation and connection of human experience from its cognitive perception.

Antony Hamilton's The Counting dissects our circadian rhythms set to a blistering underscore of driving beats while Byron Perry's A Volume Problem draws parallels between population growth and the auditory phenomenon of feedback. And, as for Puck - Rogue's latest offering… well… every good story has a prankster. Puck has been imagined throughout history, mischievous, curious and cheekily outlandish, a woodland sprite leading folk astray with echoes and light through the forest of fairytale landscape.

Capturing both what existed before them and building new pathways ahead of the tide, Rogue combine precision, beauty and mischief, to deliver an inventive and daring performance. Watch this space.

A Volume Problem: Choreography: Byron Perry, Composer: Luke Smiles, Set Construction: Anita Holloway

The Counting: Choreography: Antony Hamilton and Rogue, Sound Designer: Panasonic, Costume Designer: Doyle Barrow Puck: Choreography: Rogue, Costume Design: Doyle Barrow Rogue are: Derrick Amanatidis, Sara Black, Danielle Canavan, Holly Durrant, Laura Levitus, Kathryn Newnham, Harriet Ritchie, Production/Stage Manager: Bluebottle3 - Frog, Project Management: Moriarty's Project Presented by Malthouse Theatre.

LISTING INFORMATION

Venue: Merlyn Theatre, C.U.B. Malthouse, 113 Sturt Street, Southbank
Dates: 11 - 15 March, Preview 11 March
Tickets: $20 - $30
Times: Wed - Fri 7.00pm, Sat 2.30 & 7.00pm, Sun 4.30pm
Bookings: M-Tix 03 9685 5111 or www.dancemassive.com.au

MORPHIA SERIES Helen Herbertson & Ben Cobham

Described as one of the quietest, smallest dance piece ever seen, yet one of the bravest and most compelling.

Another remarkable work from the award-winning creative partnership behind 'Sunstruck' (Melbourne Festival, 2008).This intimate, boutique performance transports the audience through a series of sensory experiences. Inspired by Morpheus, the Greek god of dreams, this is a vivid encounter with image, sound, text and movement, which will surprise and enchant.

The highly acclaimed Morphia Series has been performed for the Melbourne and Adelaide audiences, and internationally; in Dublin, Glasgow, Zurich, Singapore and Portland.

Helen Herbertson is a seminal figure in Australian dance, she was the recipient of the 2007 Kenneth Myer Medallion for Distinguished Contribution to the Performing Arts.

Ben Cobham has made a remarkable contribution to the dance/theatre scene with yearly Green Room Awards for his lighting and design work. He has worked extensively with leading arts companies & directors both nationally and internationally.

Artists: Helen Herbertson and Ben Cobham
Presented by Arts House.

LISTING INFORMATION

Venue: Arts House, North Melbourne Town Hall, 521 Queensberry St, North Melbourne
Dates: 10 - 15 March
Tickets: $22.50
Times: Tue- Sat 7.30pm, 8.15pm & 9pm, Sun 5.30pm, 6.15pm & 7pm
Bookings: 03 96390096 or www.dancemassive.com.au

180 SECONDS IN (DISCO) HEAVEN OR HELL

Infusing a little 'Night Fever' into Dance Massive, 180 Seconds in (Disco) Heaven or Hell presents a night of choreographic speed-dating meets po-mo disco.

Hosted by the glamorous and calamitous, The Fondue Set, 180 Seconds in (Disco) Heaven or Hell puts the TEMPO back in to contemporary dance with three-minute showcases of solid gold. In six arranged marriages, a handful of red-hot local choreographers add their signature groove to the likes of ballroom, breaking and bhangra.

It's the bomb, it's time limited, it's disco, it's crazy - 180 Seconds of SOLID GOLD.

Guest artists: The Fondue Set - Emma Saunders, Elizabeth Ryan and Jane McKernan. Panther, WickidForce Breakers, Byron Perry, Kelly Ryall, Moth Design and many more. Featuring The Bamboos

Presented by Arts House
Warning: Strobe lighting, smoke effects, possible nudity. Over 18 only.

LISTING INFORMATION

Venue: Arts House, Meat Market, 5 Blackwood St, North Melbourne
Dates: 8 Mar
Tickets: $10
Times: 8pm - til late with intervals
Bookings: 03 9639 0096 or www.dancemassive.com.au

NO SUCCESS LIKE FAILURE The Fondue Set

"Failure never looked so ggod, so silly, so successful…and so intelligent as The Fondue Set achieve a new level of wit in a bizarrely coherent show that is as carefully paced as it is manic…" RealTime Part talent quest, part educational forum and part cabaret, No Success Like Failure is a hilarious 'how-to' show that expertly leads dance into a new and playful territory.

With the help of UK director & performer Wendy Houstoun (Desert Island Dances and Happy Hour, 2008 Melbourne Festival) Gorged with action, The Fondue Set embark on a post, post- modern exploration of loss, emptiness, giving up, giving in and letting go.

At times both hilarious and poignant No Success Like Failure returns for a strictly limited Melbourne season.

The Fondue Set has been rockin the dance world since they arrived at the barre in 2000 and decided to stay for a drink. Audiences have shrilled with delight at the three beautiful ladies' ability to transform dance theatre into something the world needs to see.

Creators/Performers: Emma Saunders, Elizabeth Ryan, Jane McKernan, Collaborating Director: Wendy Houstoun, Outside Eye: Julie-Anne Long, Original Lighting Design/ Production Management: Neil Simpson, Collaborating Designer: Agatha Gothe-Snape, Producer: Rosalind Richards, Artful Management.

Presented by Arts House.
No Success Like Failure has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body and by Arts NSW.

LISTING INFORMATION

Venue: Arts House, Meat Market, 5 Blackwood St, North Melbourne
Dates: Thu 5 - Sat 7 Mar
Tickets: Full $25 Conc $18
Times: 7.30pm
Bookings: 03 96390096 or www.dancemassive.com.au

INERT a collaboration

Two performers
Two viewers
Love in two parts
"…an intimate, intricately made work." The Australian

How close is too close?

Inert is a performance experience that delves into the psychology of love and loss when one is heard and seen-or not-by an intimate other. Small in scale, yet broad in its sensory scope, Inert offers a boutique performance experience immersing its audience in a subtle and moving world.

Inert was developed collaboratively over three years. The artists have been working in and around each other's practices since 1997. Together and separately their works have been presented throughout Australia and in the USA, UK, New Zealand and South East Asia.

Choreography/Performers: Simon Ellis, Shannon Bott, Sound Design: David Corbet, Environment: Scott Mitchell, Video: Cormac Lally
Presented by Arts House.
Warning: Audiences will be moved.
Inert was first developed with the support of Arts Victoria, Dancehouse and the University of Northampton

LISTING INFORMATION

Venue: Arts House, North Melbourne Town Hall, 521 Queensberry St, North Melbourne
Dates: 3 - 15 March
Tickets: $22.50
Times: Tue 3 - Fri 6 & Tue 10 - Fri 13, 6pm, 6.30pm, 7pm, 8pm, 8.30pm, 9pm
Sat 7 & Sat 14, 4pm, 4.30pm, 5pm, 6pm, 6.30pm, 7pm
Sun 8 & Sun 15, 4pm, 4.30pm, 5pm, 5.30pm
Bookings: 03 9639 0096 or www.dancemassive.com.au

MELBOURNE SPAWNED A MONSTER Jo Lloyd

"Complete. Dizzying. Satisfying...Melbourne Spawned a Monster is far and away the best original work we've seen from (Jo) Lloyd." Chris Boyd

Melbourne Spawned a Monster takes an intimate and confronting look at the monster that lurks within. Jo's strong and multi-directional choreography creates both a powerful and fragile performance that explores the layers of the public/private self.

Jo Lloyd has been performing, choreographing and teaching throughout Australia and overseas for the past thirteen years. She has performed in many works by Chunky Move, Shelley Lasica, and Sandra Parker (Dance Works). Jo's own works have been presented in Japan and at various Australian Festivals.

Choreography: Jo Lloyd, Performer: Luke George, Costume: Tim Jomartz Set: Rob McCredie, Sound: Duane Morrison

Melbourne Spawned a Monster was produced and presented by Dancehouse through the Housemate Residency Program.

LISTING INFORMATION

Venue: Dancehouse, 150 Princes St, North Carlton
Dates: 7 - 8 March
Tickets: $10 - $22
Times: Sat 10pm, Sun 3pm
Bookings: 03 9347 2860 or www.dancemassive.com.au

LIMINA Michaela Pegum

At the point where one thing becomes another, for a moment it is both. Limina explores these threshold moments, merging psychological and physical spaces, memory and present, dream and reality, to create an environment where linearity is re-arranged and we exist in multiple places at once.

Michaela Pegum is a Melbourne based performer and choreographer who has performed and produced solo performance works, video works and installations, with Opera Australia, Siobhan Murphy and Dominic Redfern amongst others.

Choreography/ Performer: Michaela Pegum, Sound: Julia Mant, Video: Cherie Green, Original Lighting Design: Jennifer Hector
Presented by Dancehouse.
Limina was produced and presented by Dancehouse through the Housemate Residency Program.

LISTING INFORMATION

Venue: Dancehouse, 150 Princes St, North Carlton
Dates: 7 - 8 March
Tickets: $10 - $22
Times: Sat 9.30pm, Sun 2.30pm
Bookings: 03 9347 2860 or www.dancemassive.com.au

VIANNE Shelley Lasica

Vianne is "about the space and the place one holds within that is also inhabited with other people: it is about knowing and how one knows. Where is Vianne, what does Vianne know and how does she know it?"

Vianne imagines a world created by luminous shapes that create the appearance of solid forms in a theatricalised landscape.

Sound images fly through an electronic world that simulates another time, a lost memory. The dance is the map by which we can orient ourselves in Vianne's world.

Dancer/ Choreographer Shelley Lasica has been making and performing dance work in Australia and abroad for over 25 years. She has presented work in London, Paris, Manchester, Vienna, New York and in Australia.

Locating her work in non-theatre spaces, her performances are firmly based in a discourse that relates dance with other visual and temporal culture. Choreography: Shelley Lasica, Performers: Deanne Butterworth, Jo Lloyd, Timothy Harvey, Lee Serle, Bonnie Paskas, Music: PEACE OUT! (Milo Kossowski and Morgan McWaters, from Melbourne band The Emergency), Set: Anne-Marie May, Costumes: Shelley Lasica, Kara Baker for Project, Lighting: Ben Cobham
Presented by Dancehouse.
Shelley Lasica is represented by Anna Schwartz Gallery.

LISTING INFORMATION

Venue: Dancehouse, 150 Princes St, North Carlton
Dates: 10 - 11 March
Tickets: $10 - $18
Times: 7.30pm
Bookings: 03 9347 2860 or www.dancemassive.com.au

LIFESIZE Luke George

"bordering on the pornographic" It intrigues, titillates and leaves one wondering whether one should be watching; (George) craftily sucks us all in." The Age

Described as a cross-artform orgy of dance, sound, video and light - LIFESIZE explores the new worlds we create in seeking personal connection and expression. The textures and tactics of the work borrow and glean ideas from popular and media culture. With tones of visceral drama and brutal subversions, two performers explore the substitution of real life with imitation. Luke George is a performer and choreographer. He has performed with Chunky Move, Phillip Adams' Balletlab and Shelley Lasica, amongst others and internationally with Itoh Kim (Tokyo) and Miguel Gutierezz (New York). As a choreographer Luke has worked with the acclaimed Back to Back and Arena theatre companies, as well as creating the award winning Trike and six works for Stompin, where he was Artistic Director from 2002 until 2008.

Choreography: Luke George, Performers: Luke George, Kristy Ayre, Sound: Luke Smiles, Video: Martyn Coutts, Lighting: Benjamin Cisterne Presented by Dancehouse
LIFESIZE has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body and auspiced by Ausdance Victoria.

LISTING INFORMATION

Venue: Dancehouse, 150 Princes St, North Carlton
Dates: 12 - 13 March
Tickets: $10 - $18
Times: 9.30pm
Bookings: 03 9347 2860 or www.dancemassive.com.au