An Act of Now

GOVERNMENT PARTNERS

MAJOR PARTNERS

RADIO PARTNER

MEDIA PARTNER

PRODUCTION PARTNER

WINE PARTNER

Peter Biggs (Chair), Stephen Armstrong, Jeremy Blackshaw, Anouk van Dijk, Rhodri Ellis-Jones, Jeff Khan, Margaret Parker, Katrina Sedgwick, Margaret Thompson.

111 Sturt Street Southbank VIC 3006 P +61 3 9645 5188 F +61 3 9645 5199 chunkymove.com

Chunky Move Board

Chunky Move

Chunky Move has earned an enviable reputation for producing a distinct yet unpredictable brand of genredefying dance performance.

In 2012 Chunky Move entered a new period of artistic leadership under the guidance of Artistic Director, Anouk van Dijk, having previously been led by Gideon Obarzanek since its inception in 1995. Van Dijk is an internationally acclaimed choreographer whose work has toured extensively throughout Europe, North America, Asia and Australia. Her work is daring, innovative and diverse in both its mode and context.

Chunky Move’s multi-tiered programming initiatives foster and support a strong and vibrant dance culture in its home city of Melbourne, and also creates critically acclaimed and popular larger productions for touring.

SUPPORTING PARTNERS

Chunky Move Staff Artistic Director Anouk van Dijk Executive Producer Catherine Jones Business & Program Manager Hillary Coyne Production & Operations Manager Michael Carr Marketing & Development Manager Luke McKinnon Office & Program Coordinator Megan Williams Production and Operations Coordinator Blair Hart Marketing & Development Coordinator Hamish Lane Finance Administrator Anne MacDonald Class Curator Kristy Ayre Front of House Staff Annabelle Balharry, Emily Lochowicz and Phoebe Robinson Publicity Miranda Brown Publicity Special Thanks Chunky Move would like to thank the following people and organisations for their support of An Act of Now: Gideon Obarzanek, Rachael Azzopardi, Jerry Remkes, Brett Sheehy, Mike Harris, Glen Hirst, David Anderson, Carla Hartog, Koen van Oosterhout, Jorrit Boerman, Heleen Rol, Motherbird, Calvin Gedye at System Sound, the Malthouse Theatre Workshop, Amanda Carr and Chloe Greeves at Malthouse Theatre Wardrobe, Romanie Harper and Richard Dinnen.

Chunky Move is supported by the Victorian Government, through Arts Victoria and the Commonwealth Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.

Chunky Move acknowledges the generous support of our donors who have supported the company in the past twelve months: Andrew Churchyard, Jason Craig, Rhodri Ellis-Jones, Jane Henry, Susan Humphries, Jeanette Lefrandt, Gillian McDougall, Carolyn Mooney, Dr Anne Myers, Leo O’Keefe, Margaret Parker, Denise Pedrotti, Linda Wall, Roger Woock and Ms Fiona Clyne, Anonymous (6).

Melbourne Festival Melbourne Festival is one of the world’s leading arts festivals and Australia’s premier celebration of art and culture from around the world.

Each year during October, the Festival brings an unparalleled feast of theatre, dance, music, film and visual art events to Melbourne.

Melbourne Festival 11–27 October 2012 melbournefestival.com.au Arts Centre Melbourne PO Box 7585 St Kilda Road Melbourne Vic 8004 T +61 3 9281 8000 F +61 3 9281 8282 artscentremelbourne.com.au Victorian Arts Centre Trust Ms Janet Whiting (President) Ms Deborah Beale Ms Terry Bracks Mr Julian Clarke Ms Catherine McClements Mr Graham Smorgon Prof Leon van Schaik AO Mr David Vigo Executive Group Ms Judith Isherwood, Chief Executive Ms Jodie Bennett, Corporate Services Mr Tim Brinkman, Performing Arts Mr Michael Burns, Facilities & Asset Management Ms Louise Georgeson, General Manager – Development, Corporate Communications & Special Events Mr Kyle Johnstone, Customer Enterprises.

Arts Centre Melbourne gratefully acknowledges the support of its donors through Arts Centre Melbourne Foundation Annual Giving Appeal.

Design Motherbird

In this collision of emotions, conversations and movement, An Act of Now found its shape. It is at times a dark and questioning piece, imbued with a sense of anticipation and hope for what lies ahead.

The first line in my notebook for the new work reads: “We are living in a very passionate world where people take a lot of risks”.

This notion causes both excitement and pain. In big cities we live in close proximity to each other and this proximity leads to certain expectations as to how we should interact and behave as a community. Surprisingly, we mostly remain tolerant and understanding, where internally it might all be chaos, a desire to explode, revolt or escape. I admire the human capacity to cope, be creative, resilient and persevering, while simultaneously being deeply concerned by the sudden eruptions of violence, selfishness and intolerance that is reflected all around us.

In rehearsal we began a conversation on art, society and the meaning of movement. What became apparent was that despite the perceived differences in our culture, we share in Europe and Australia many of the same ideals, concerns and challenges. Our discussions revealed a group of individuals, disconcerted, but not disillusioned, with the current state of their community, country and the wider global picture.

A NOTE FROM ANOUK VAN DIJK

During my first months in Melbourne I started to connect the old with the new, continuing an investigation I had begun in the Netherlands reflecting on my own cultural identity. I now look ahead to unknown territory, using familiar stepping-stones to discover new insights into a society that is in many ways similar to my own, but that is at the same time profoundly different; because of its geography; its inhabitants; its history; its environment; and because of its deep connection with the land. Now planted here – An Act of Now.

If you have any problems with your headset at any point during the performance, please raise your hand and a staff member will attend.

On/Off Switch: The small red and green lights on the front of your headset will glow when your headset is on.

Tune: Press the tune button if your audio signal drops out during the show. This will move your headset to an alternate frequency.

L

R VOLUME

ON/OFF

Volume: Wheel up for more volume, down for less volume.

TUNING

HEADPHONE INSTRUCTIONS

WORLD PREMIERE

Presented by Melbourne Festival and Chunky Move in association with Arts Centre Melbourne

ARTS CENTRE MELBOURNE, SIDNEY MYER MUSIC BOWL

CONCEPT & CHOREOGRAPHY ANOUK VAN DIJK COMPOSITION & SOUND DESIGN MARCEL WIERCKX LIGHTING DESIGN NIKLAS PAJANTI COSTUME DESIGN ANNA CORDINGLEY

18 – 27 OCT 2012 8PM

WITH PETER CSERI, LEIF HELLAND, STEPHANIE LAKE, LAUREN LANGLOIS, ALYA MANZART, JAMES PHAM, NIHARIKA SENAPATI, NINA WOLLNY PRODUCTION MANAGER/SET REALISATION MICHAEL CARR STAGE MANAGER BLAIR HART ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER ROXZAN BOWES SOUND OPERATOR MARCO CHER-GIBARD LIGHTING OPERATOR JOHNBOY DAVIDSON ASSISTANT TO THE CHOREOGRAPHER COLEMAN PESTER

70 MINUTES NO INTERVAL

CONCEPT & CHOREOGRAPHY ANOUK VAN DIJK

COMPOSITION & SOUND DESIGN MARCEL WIERCKX

LIGHTING DESIGN NIKLAS PAJANTI

COSTUME DESIGN ANNA CORDINGLEY

Anouk van Dijk is a choreographer, dancer, Artistic Director and the creator behind the movement system, Countertechnique.

Marcel Wierckx is a sound and video artist who composes music for concert, film, theatre and dance. An Act of Now is Wierckx’s debut production with Chunky Move.

Niklas Pajanti is an award winning lighting designer working across a range of contemporary art and performance media. For Chunky Move Pajanti has worked on I Want to Dance Better at Parties, Singularity, Tense Dave, Three’s a Crowd and Black Marrow.

Anna Cordingley is a renowned designer whose work has been seen by audiences across the globe.

Cordingley designed the costumes for Chunky Move’s Connected.

In July 2012, van Dijk assumed the role of Artistic Director of Chunky Move.

An Act of Now is her debut work for the company.

In 1998 van Dijk formed anoukvandijk dc, her own, Amsterdam based, company dedicated to creating work that sought to provide an insight into the many facets of the human experience through the lens of contemporary dance. The company has since gone on to produce twenty full-length works that have toured the globe, attracting broad audiences and critical acclaim. Australian tours of her work include STAU at the Adelaide Festival and Sydney Opera House in 2006 and TRUST at the Perth International Arts Festival in 2011.

Central to the foundation of her work and the training of her dancers has been Countertechnique, the movement system van Dijk developed to provide dancers with applied tools for contemporary dance practice.

Countertechnique is a movement system that helps dancers think about the dancing body - focusing on the process of incorporating information into action.

Wierckx has presented his work at festivals and conferences around the world, including the International Computer Music Conference, the International Society of Contemporary Music World Music Days, the STRP Festival and the MFRU International Festival of Computer Arts. He composed the soundtrack to the film Tussenland (Sleeping Rough), which was the recipient of the Tiger Award at the Rotterdam Film Festival and created the video images for Mensa Secunda, a multidisciplinary theatre work, which won the prestigious Jur Naessens Prize in 2005.

Wierckx studied instrumental and electronic music composition in Canada and at the Utrecht School of Music and Technology in the Netherlands.

Pajanti’s work has featured internationally with companies including Melbourne Theatre Company, Bell Shakespeare Company, Sydney Theatre Company, Malthouse Theatre, Belvoir Street Theatre, The Eleventh Hour, BalletLab, Brink Productions, Dancehouse, KAGE Physical Theatre, Not Yet It’s Difficult, Australian Centre for the Moving Image, Melbourne International Arts Festival, Adelaide Festival and the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

Cordingley was Resident Designer for Malthouse Theatre from 2009-2011 creating designs for ‘Tis A Pity She’s a Whore, Sappho… In 9 Fragments, The Threepenny Opera, Elizabeth – Almost By Chance A Woman, Furious Mattress, One Night the Moon, Knives in Hens, Happy Days, A Commercial Farce and Puck. She has also worked on David Chesworth’s Richter/Meinhof Opera and with the Black Arm Band on their production Hidden Republic.

Cordingley’s designs were featured in the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games opening and closing ceremonies.

ALYA MANZART

An Act of Now is Alya Manzart’s debut performance with Chunky Move. He has previously worked with Compagnie Marie Chouinard, Phillip Adams, 2ndToe Dance Collective and Opera Australia.

STEPHANIE LAKE PERFORMERS LEIF HELLAND

Cseri studied ballet in Hungary before shifting his focus towards contemporary dance at the Rotterdam Dance Academy.

Carr was artist-in-residence at the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts in 2004 and 2010, teaching circus, stage rigging, production and stage management.

An Act of Now is Leif Helland’s debut performance with Chunky Move. He has previously studied under Phillip Adams and Becky Hilton and worked with renowned choreographers Sandra Parker and Rosalind Crisp.

Helland performed in Exposure by Emiline Forster and Vanishing Point, choreographed by Stephanie Lake.

He has also been involved in the creative development of Lake’s new work, A Small Prometheus and Vista for Redspan Dance Company.

Helland is a graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts.

Stephanie Lake has worked extensively with Chunky Move, having previously performed in Connected, I Like This and Two Faced Bastard and was Assistant Choreographer for the company’s production of Assembly.

Her choreographic work Mix Tape, commissioned for Chunky Move’s Next Move program, was the recipient of two Green Room Awards including Best Choreography. She has also performed with Lucy Guerin Inc. and BalletLab. In 2012 Lake was awarded the inaugural Peggy van Praagh Fellowship, supporting the continued development of mid-career dance makers. Her recent work Dream Lucid was presented in the 2012 Spring Dance Contemporary Women program at the Sydney Opera House.

Lake graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts in 2000 and was the recipient of the Green Room Award for Best Emerging Dancer in the same year.

STAGE MANAGER BLAIR HART Blair Hart is the Production and Operations Coordinator at Chunky Move. His extensive experience in production and stage management has seen him work with Malthouse Theatre, BalletLab, trafficlight and fortyfivedownstairs. Hart has also worked with KAGE Physical Theatre, Tim Darbyshire, Ilbijerri, Lucy Guerin Inc. and the Australian National Academy of Music.

Hart is a graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts.

NIHARIKA SENAPATI

An Act of Now is Lauren Langlois’ second production with Chunky Move, having previously performed in Antony Hamilton’s Keep Everything, for the company’s Next Move program.

An Act of Now is Peter Cseri’s debut performance with Chunky Move, having previously worked with Artistic Director Anouk van Dijk. For anoukvandijk dc, Cseri has performed and toured internationally in the productions of Amour Fou, Suna no Onna, Wowwowwonders in me, Mensch, Rausch and the Australian tour of TRUST, at the Perth International Arts Festival. He has also worked with Club Guy & Roni, the Hans Hof Ensemble and Bodies Anonymous and is a senior teacher of Anouk van Dijk’s, Counterechnique.

Michael Carr is the Production and Operations Manager at Chunky Move.

With over ten years experience in production and logistics, Carr has production managed recent tours of Connected and Assembly for the company. He has toured extensively throughout Australia and internationally with Strange Fruit, BalletLab and Polyglot Puppet Theatre.

Pajanti is a graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts and holds postgraduate qualifications in Illuminating Engineering from The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology.

LAUREN LANGLOIS

PETER CSERI

PRODUCTION MANAGER/ SET REALISATION MICHAEL CARR

Langlois has performed with Sydney Dance Company (LANDforms, 6 Breaths, We Unfold, The Land of Yes and The Land of No, Between Breath and Form); Australian Dance Theatre (G and Be Your Self); and for choreographers Larissa McGowan, Lina Limosani and Jacapo Godani.

Langlois completed a full time course in Classical Ballet with Marie Walton-Mahon Dance Academy and Contemporary Dance at the New Zealand School of Dance.

Manzart’s dance film Subliminal Mind, was selected for presentation at numerous film festivals including Reel Dance Artist Conference (Sydney), NEO/NOW Live and Online Film Festival (Estonia) and the Melbourne International Student Film Festival.

An Act of Now is Niharika Senapati’s debut performance with Chunky Move.

This year Senapati has worked with Jacob Lehrer and Rachel Arianne Ogle on creative developments in Perth and performed in Liesel Zink’s Fifteen as part of the Next Wave Festival.

She has also performed in works by choreographers Dean Walsh, Matthew Morris, Sue Peacock and Xiaoxiong Zhang.

Senapati is a graduate of the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts.

Manzart is a graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts.

NINA WOLLNY

JAMES PHAM

An Act of Now is James Pham’s debut performance with Chunky Move. Previously he has worked with STEPS Youth Dance Company, Taane Mete and Taiaroa Royale (He Taonga), Ross McCormack (SUM) and Maria Dabrowska (Recent Bedrooms).

Pham received full time classical training at the Graduate College of Dance (Western Australia) and continued his studies at the New Zealand School of Dance.

An Act of Now is Nina Wollny’s debut performance with Chunky Move. Wollny has been a long-time collaborator with Artistic Director Anouk van Dijk, working as a performer and artistic assistant for anoukvandijk dc. She has performed in nearly all of the company’s works since 2002 and toured globally with productions, Amour Fou, Suna no Onna, Pushing Air, Heads, PROTECT ME and Rausch.

Wollny also performed in the Australian tours of STAU at the Adelaide Festival and the Sydney Opera House and TRUST at the Perth International Arts Festival.

Wollny is the primary teacher of Anouk van Dijk’s Countertechnique, having taught masterclasses in this method throughout the Europe, USA, Russia and Asia as well as developing a publication on Countertechnique for the book Dance Techniques 2010.

Wollny trained in ballet before studying contemporary dance at the Rotterdam Dance Academy.

GOVERNMENT PARTNERS

MAJOR PARTNERS

RADIO PARTNER

MEDIA PARTNER

PRODUCTION PARTNER

WINE PARTNER

Peter Biggs (Chair), Stephen Armstrong, Jeremy Blackshaw, Anouk van Dijk, Rhodri Ellis-Jones, Jeff Khan, Margaret Parker, Katrina Sedgwick, Margaret Thompson.

111 Sturt Street Southbank VIC 3006 P +61 3 9645 5188 F +61 3 9645 5199 chunkymove.com

Chunky Move Board

Chunky Move

Chunky Move has earned an enviable reputation for producing a distinct yet unpredictable brand of genredefying dance performance.

In 2012 Chunky Move entered a new period of artistic leadership under the guidance of Artistic Director, Anouk van Dijk, having previously been led by Gideon Obarzanek since its inception in 1995. Van Dijk is an internationally acclaimed choreographer whose work has toured extensively throughout Europe, North America, Asia and Australia. Her work is daring, innovative and diverse in both its mode and context.

Chunky Move’s multi-tiered programming initiatives foster and support a strong and vibrant dance culture in its home city of Melbourne, and also creates critically acclaimed and popular larger productions for touring.

SUPPORTING PARTNERS

Chunky Move Staff Artistic Director Anouk van Dijk Executive Producer Catherine Jones Business & Program Manager Hillary Coyne Production & Operations Manager Michael Carr Marketing & Development Manager Luke McKinnon Office & Program Coordinator Megan Williams Production and Operations Coordinator Blair Hart Marketing & Development Coordinator Hamish Lane Finance Administrator Anne MacDonald Class Curator Kristy Ayre Front of House Staff Annabelle Balharry, Emily Lochowicz and Phoebe Robinson Publicity Miranda Brown Publicity Special Thanks Chunky Move would like to thank the following people and organisations for their support of An Act of Now: Gideon Obarzanek, Rachael Azzopardi, Jerry Remkes, Brett Sheehy, Mike Harris, Glen Hirst, David Anderson, Carla Hartog, Koen van Oosterhout, Jorrit Boerman, Heleen Rol, Motherbird, Calvin Gedye at System Sound, the Malthouse Theatre Workshop, Amanda Carr and Chloe Greeves at Malthouse Theatre Wardrobe, Romanie Harper and Richard Dinnen.

Chunky Move is supported by the Victorian Government, through Arts Victoria and the Commonwealth Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.

Chunky Move acknowledges the generous support of our donors who have supported the company in the past twelve months: Andrew Churchyard, Jason Craig, Rhodri Ellis-Jones, Jane Henry, Susan Humphries, Jeanette Lefrandt, Gillian McDougall, Carolyn Mooney, Dr Anne Myers, Leo O’Keefe, Margaret Parker, Denise Pedrotti, Linda Wall, Roger Woock and Ms Fiona Clyne, Anonymous (6).

Melbourne Festival Melbourne Festival is one of the world’s leading arts festivals and Australia’s premier celebration of art and culture from around the world.

Each year during October, the Festival brings an unparalleled feast of theatre, dance, music, film and visual art events to Melbourne.

Melbourne Festival 11–27 October 2012 melbournefestival.com.au Arts Centre Melbourne PO Box 7585 St Kilda Road Melbourne Vic 8004 T +61 3 9281 8000 F +61 3 9281 8282 artscentremelbourne.com.au Victorian Arts Centre Trust Ms Janet Whiting (President) Ms Deborah Beale Ms Terry Bracks Mr Julian Clarke Ms Catherine McClements Mr Graham Smorgon Prof Leon van Schaik AO Mr David Vigo Executive Group Ms Judith Isherwood, Chief Executive Ms Jodie Bennett, Corporate Services Mr Tim Brinkman, Performing Arts Mr Michael Burns, Facilities & Asset Management Ms Louise Georgeson, General Manager – Development, Corporate Communications & Special Events Mr Kyle Johnstone, Customer Enterprises.

Arts Centre Melbourne gratefully acknowledges the support of its donors through Arts Centre Melbourne Foundation Annual Giving Appeal.

Design Motherbird

In this collision of emotions, conversations and movement, An Act of Now found its shape. It is at times a dark and questioning piece, imbued with a sense of anticipation and hope for what lies ahead.

The first line in my notebook for the new work reads: “We are living in a very passionate world where people take a lot of risks”.

This notion causes both excitement and pain. In big cities we live in close proximity to each other and this proximity leads to certain expectations as to how we should interact and behave as a community. Surprisingly, we mostly remain tolerant and understanding, where internally it might all be chaos, a desire to explode, revolt or escape. I admire the human capacity to cope, be creative, resilient and persevering, while simultaneously being deeply concerned by the sudden eruptions of violence, selfishness and intolerance that is reflected all around us.

In rehearsal we began a conversation on art, society and the meaning of movement. What became apparent was that despite the perceived differences in our culture, we share in Europe and Australia many of the same ideals, concerns and challenges. Our discussions revealed a group of individuals, disconcerted, but not disillusioned, with the current state of their community, country and the wider global picture.

A NOTE FROM ANOUK VAN DIJK

During my first months in Melbourne I started to connect the old with the new, continuing an investigation I had begun in the Netherlands reflecting on my own cultural identity. I now look ahead to unknown territory, using familiar stepping-stones to discover new insights into a society that is in many ways similar to my own, but that is at the same time profoundly different; because of its geography; its inhabitants; its history; its environment; and because of its deep connection with the land. Now planted here – An Act of Now.

If you have any problems with your headset at any point during the performance, please raise your hand and a staff member will attend.

On/Off Switch: The small red and green lights on the front of your headset will glow when your headset is on.

Tune: Press the tune button if your audio signal drops out during the show. This will move your headset to an alternate frequency.

L

R VOLUME

ON/OFF

Volume: Wheel up for more volume, down for less volume.

TUNING

HEADPHONE INSTRUCTIONS

GOVERNMENT PARTNERS

MAJOR PARTNERS

WINE PARTNER

PRODUCTION PARTNER

MEDIA PARTNER

RADIO PARTNER

Chunky Move

Chunky Move Board

Melbourne Festival

111 Sturt Street Southbank VIC 3006 P +61 3 9645 5188 F +61 3 9645 5199 chunkymove.com

Peter Biggs (Chair), Stephen Armstrong, Jeremy Blackshaw, Anouk van Dijk, Rhodri Ellis-Jones, Jeff Khan, Margaret Parker, Katrina Sedgwick, Margaret Thompson.

Melbourne Festival is one of the world’s leading arts festivals and Australia’s premier celebration of art and culture from around the world.

Each year during October, the Festival brings an unparalleled feast of theatre, dance, music, film and visual art events to Melbourne.

Chunky Move has earned an enviable reputation for producing a distinct yet unpredictable brand of genredefying dance performance.

Chunky Move Staff

Melbourne Festival 11–27 October 2012 melbournefestival.com.au

In 2012 Chunky Move entered a new period of artistic leadership under the guidance of Artistic Director, Anouk van Dijk, having previously been led by Gideon Obarzanek since its inception in 1995. Van Dijk is an internationally acclaimed choreographer whose work has toured extensively throughout Europe, North America, Asia and Australia. Her work is daring, innovative and diverse in both its mode and context.

Chunky Move’s multi-tiered programming initiatives foster and support a strong and vibrant dance culture in its home city of Melbourne, and also creates critically acclaimed and popular larger productions for touring.

SUPPORTING PARTNERS

Artistic Director Anouk van Dijk Executive Producer Catherine Jones Business & Program Manager Hillary Coyne Production & Operations Manager Michael Carr Marketing & Development Manager Luke McKinnon Office & Program Coordinator Megan Williams Production and Operations Coordinator Blair Hart Marketing & Development Coordinator Hamish Lane Finance Administrator Anne MacDonald Class Curator Kristy Ayre Front of House Staff Annabelle Balharry, Emily Lochowicz and Phoebe Robinson Publicity Miranda Brown Publicity Special Thanks

Chunky Move is supported by the Victorian Government, through Arts Victoria and the Commonwealth Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.

Chunky Move acknowledges the generous support of our donors who have supported the company in the past twelve months: Andrew Churchyard, Jason Craig, Rhodri Ellis-Jones, Jane Henry, Susan Humphries, Jeanette Lefrandt, Gillian McDougall, Carolyn Mooney, Dr Anne Myers, Leo O’Keefe, Margaret Parker, Denise Pedrotti, Linda Wall, Roger Woock and Ms Fiona Clyne, Anonymous (6).

Chunky Move would like to thank the following people and organisations for their support of An Act of Now: Gideon Obarzanek, Rachael Azzopardi, Jerry Remkes, Brett Sheehy, Mike Harris, Glen Hirst, David Anderson, Carla Hartog, Koen van Oosterhout, Jorrit Boerman, Heleen Rol, Motherbird, Calvin Gedye at System Sound, the Malthouse Theatre Workshop, Amanda Carr and Chloe Greeves at Malthouse Theatre Wardrobe, Romanie Harper and Richard Dinnen.

Arts Centre Melbourne PO Box 7585 St Kilda Road Melbourne Vic 8004 T +61 3 9281 8000 F +61 3 9281 8282 artscentremelbourne.com.au Victorian Arts Centre Trust Ms Janet Whiting (President) Ms Deborah Beale Ms Terry Bracks Mr Julian Clarke Ms Catherine McClements Mr Graham Smorgon Prof Leon van Schaik AO Mr David Vigo Executive Group Ms Judith Isherwood, Chief Executive Ms Jodie Bennett, Corporate Services Mr Tim Brinkman, Performing Arts Mr Michael Burns, Facilities & Asset Management Ms Louise Georgeson, General Manager – Development, Corporate Communications & Special Events Mr Kyle Johnstone, Customer Enterprises.

Arts Centre Melbourne gratefully acknowledges the support of its donors through Arts Centre Melbourne Foundation Annual Giving Appeal.

Design Motherbird

In this collision of emotions, conversations and movement, An Act of Now found its shape. It is at times a dark and questioning piece, imbued with a sense of anticipation and hope for what lies ahead.

The first line in my notebook for the new work reads: “We are living in a very passionate world where people take a lot of risks”.

This notion causes both excitement and pain. In big cities we live in close proximity to each other and this proximity leads to certain expectations as to how we should interact and behave as a community. Surprisingly, we mostly remain tolerant and understanding, where internally it might all be chaos, a desire to explode, revolt or escape. I admire the human capacity to cope, be creative, resilient and persevering, while simultaneously being deeply concerned by the sudden eruptions of violence, selfishness and intolerance that is reflected all around us.

In rehearsal we began a conversation on art, society and the meaning of movement. What became apparent was that despite the perceived differences in our culture, we share in Europe and Australia many of the same ideals, concerns and challenges. Our discussions revealed a group of individuals, disconcerted, but not disillusioned, with the current state of their community, country and the wider global picture.

A NOTE FROM ANOUK VAN DIJK

During my first months in Melbourne I started to connect the old with the new, continuing an investigation I had begun in the Netherlands reflecting on my own cultural identity. I now look ahead to unknown territory, using familiar stepping-stones to discover new insights into a society that is in many ways similar to my own, but that is at the same time profoundly different; because of its geography; its inhabitants; its history; its environment; and because of its deep connection with the land. Now planted here – An Act of Now.

If you have any problems with your headset at any point during the performance, please raise your hand and a staff member will attend.

On/Off Switch: The small red and green lights on the front of your headset will glow when your headset is on.

Tune: Press the tune button if your audio signal drops out during the show. This will move your headset to an alternate frequency.

Volume: Wheel up for more volume, down for less volume.

HEADPHONE INSTRUCTIONS

L

R VOLUME

ON/OFF

TUNING