Dance: Connected

In his final year as artistic director at Chunky Move, Gideon Obarzanek appears determined to leave on an unforgettable note. Already under his sleeve are the spellbinding, technologically captivating Glow and Mortal Engine; contemporary dance works that surpassed its local beginnings into international successes. And though there’s little doubt his latest contribution will push the boundaries of contemporary dance once again, some might be surprised to learn that this time around, the hard-edged, technological intricacies renowned in so much of Obarzanek’s work will be taking a back seat for something along the lines of anachronistic mechanics, though no less elaborate.

For the first time, Obarzanek collaborates with U.S. based kinetic sculptor, Reuben Margolin in Connected, which will be showing as part of this year’s Dance Massive. Margolin is possibly most famous for his kinetic wave structures; large, hand-cranked suspended sculptures built with the fundamentals of physics and mathematics to create movements inspired by nature.

“They [Obarzanek and Margolin] clicked at this particular conference and started to talk,” explains Stephanie Lake who is one of the performers in Connected. “I think that Reuben had never worked in a theatrical context before – his work had always been installed in galleries and he’s got an academic/mathematical background. He wanted to move more into the performance art world but hadn’t had the opportunity. And for Gideon, he was really interested in working with this kind of sculpture especially on the back of a work like Mortal Engine, which works with really new technology. So I think he was really interested in doing something that went in the other direction technologically.”

Though created out of mostly simplistic wood-based materials and string, Margolin’s sculptures are visually complex, large-scaled and aesthetically magnificent. In Connected, they play the part of puppeteer, puppet and performer; its organic movements seemingly perfect for a dance stage.

“Reuben makes amazing kinetic sculptures using paper and string, this one particularly that we’re using is paper and string,” says Lake. “The sculpture moves in a really organic way. So there are parts in the works in which we are attached to the sculpture and our movements actually manipulate the sculptures and make it move. And then there are other parts where the sculptures move independently and we’re dancing and the choreography relates to the movement.”

Performed by Stephanie Lake, Alisdair Macindoe, Josh Mu, Marnie Palomares and Harriet Ritchie with music by Oren Ambarchi and Robin Fox, Connected features a new structure created by Margolin specifically for the production. As the performance heightens, the construction of the large sculpture occurs in real-time, thus representing the connection between naturalistic construct and human movements, consequently blurring the lines between the two.

“I guess in a broader sense, I would say the work is about connectivity and attachment, and I guess not only the physical representation of that but an emotional representation of that also,” says Lake. “It’s a very physical and visual work. There are some sections of dancing that are incredibly intricate and rhythmic and detailed. And then you’ve got this incredibly beautiful sculpture in the space that sometimes moves like a visual representation of a sine wave, and that can move on its own but also can be manipulated by us.”

At one point, all five dancers are attached to the sculpture, making it a physically taxing section of the performance let alone a tiring rehearsal process. “We’ve got special suits on that we can clip the strings to us and there’s quite a lot of resistance,” explains Lake. “So we’re pulling the strings that then track up into the ceiling and then down and actually affect the sculpture. So we’ve got to choreograph our movements, which are quite simple actually – it’s mostly just tracking backwards and forwards – but there are five of us attached at one point so we’ve got to work together as an organism to then make the sculpture move as an organism as well.”

“It is quite fatiguing if you’re attached to the sculpture for a long time, because obviously you’ve got that resistance and you’re pulling,” Lake continues. “We’re used to resistance with each other’s bodies and the floor, and working with each others’ partners and that physical resistance, but it’s quite different working with a piece of machinery in a way because there is still that resistance but it’s a different type.”

An interview with Reuben Margolin about his kinetic wave structures:

Connected will be showing at the Merlyn Theatre, Malthouse in Melbourne from March 11 to March 20

For more information and to purchase tickets for Connected, visit: http://www.malthousetheatre.com.au/page/Connected

For more information on Reuben Margolin, visit: http://www.reubenmargolin.com/

For more information on Chunky Move, visit: http://www.chunkymove.com/