Lead by internationally acclaimed Choreographer Anouk van Dijk, the Company’s multi-tiered programming initiatives nurture and underpin a strong and vibrant dance culture in our home city of Melbourne and create critically acclaimed and popular productions of scale for presentations nationally and internationally. Using contemporary Australian culture, social commentary and the tension between community and the individual as its springboard, Chunky Move’s artistic vision is driven by an investigation into the multifaceted possibilities of the body; and its relationship to place, context and environment. We are defined by our unpredictability and strive to explore the many possibilities of contemporary dance through cross-genre collaborations and cultural exchange.
Founded by Artistic Director, Gideon Obarzanek in 1995, as the state of Victoria’s flagship contemporary dance company, Chunky Move, under Obarzanek’s leadership, established itself as one of the country’s most innovative, awarded and internationally recognised performing arts companies. Since its inception, Chunky Move has operated under a model of creative porosity – a flow of creative people and ideas moving in and out of the Company – and is therefore, one of the few leading dance company’s in Australia not operating under an ensemble model. In addition to our main stage performance activity, Chunky Move offers an extensive program of performer and choreographic development initiatives including our celebrated Next Move program, which commissions a new work by an emerging choreographer each year.
Chunky Move is based in our purpose built dance studios in Southbank. Our building, situated in the heart of Melbourne’s Arts Precinct, was designed by award-winning architects Wood Marsh and is one of the most distinctive and recognisable buildings on the Melbourne landscape.
