Gideon Obarzanek
Encyclopedia
Gideon Obarzanek is an Australia
n choreographer
and the Artistic Director
of Melbourne
, Australia
based contemporary dance
company
Chunky Move
which he formed in 1995, in collaboration with Garry Stewart
.
Gideon Obarzanek spent his early childhood in Israel on an agricultural kibbutz
. His family returned to Melbourne where he took jazz ballet lessons, he later went to the Australian Ballet School
, graduating in 1987. He danced with the Queensland Ballet
after graduation. He later joined the Sydney Dance Company
before pursuing a career as a performer and choreographer with various dance companies and independent projects within Australia and abroad. In that period he worked with The Australian Ballet, Sydney Dance Company, Opera Australia
and the Netherlands Dance Theatre.
His works for Chunky Move have included stage productions, installations, site-specific works and film. His works have been performed in many festivals and theatres around the world in the U.K, Europe, Asia and the Americas. In New York, he has been presented at BAM Next Wave Festival
, Dance Theater Workshop
and the Joyce Theatre.
Chunky MoveEXPORT FILE program, (1999)
BODYPARTS program, (1999)
COMBINATION NO. 3, (2000)
Hydra, (2000)
Live Acts program
Arcade program, (2001)
Closer, (2002)
WANTED program - Wanted: Ballet for a Contemporary Democracy Clear Pale Skin, (2002)
Tense Dave, (2003)
Three's a Crowd, (2003)
I Want to Dance Better at Parties, (2004)
Glow, (2006)
Singularity, (2006)
Dance Like Your Old Man a film co-directed with Edwina Throsby
Two Faced Bastard, (2008) with Lucy Guerin
Mortal Engine, (2008)
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n choreographer
Choreography
Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements in which motion, form, or both are specified. Choreography may also refer to the design itself, which is sometimes expressed by means of dance notation. The word choreography literally means "dance-writing" from the Greek words "χορεία" ...
and the Artistic Director
Artistic director
An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre company, that handles the organization's artistic direction. He or she is generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since the organization is generally a non-profit organization...
of Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
based contemporary dance
Contemporary dance
Contemporary dance is a genre of concert dance that employs compositional philosophy, rather than choreography, to guide unchoreographed movement...
company
Dance company
A dance troupe or dance company is a group of dancers and associated personnel who work together to perform dances as a spectacle or entertainment.-Members:*Artistic Director*Choreographers*Dancers*Board of Directors*Education administrator...
Chunky Move
Chunky Move
Chunky Move is an Australian contemporary dance company from Southbank, VictoriaIt was founded in 1995 and debuted at the Melbourne International Arts Festival with artistic director Gideon Obarzanek....
which he formed in 1995, in collaboration with Garry Stewart
Garry Stewart
Garry Stewart has been the artistic director of the Australian Dance Theatre since 1999, following Meryl Tankard.Stewart studied at the Sydney City Ballet Academy and the Australian Ballet School...
.
Gideon Obarzanek spent his early childhood in Israel on an agricultural kibbutz
Kibbutz
A kibbutz is a collective community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economic branches, including industrial plants and high-tech enterprises. Kibbutzim began as utopian communities, a combination of socialism and Zionism...
. His family returned to Melbourne where he took jazz ballet lessons, he later went to the Australian Ballet School
Australian Ballet School
The Australian Ballet School was founded in 1964 as the primary training facility for The Australian Ballet by Dame Margaret Scott. It is part of the Australian Ballet Centre, which is located in the Melbourne Arts Precinct, Southbank in Melbourne, Victoria...
, graduating in 1987. He danced with the Queensland Ballet
Queensland Ballet
The Queensland Ballet, founded in 1960 by Charles Lisner OBE, is the premier ballet company of Queensland, Australia, and is based in Brisbane.- About Queensland Ballet :...
after graduation. He later joined the Sydney Dance Company
Sydney Dance Company
The Sydney Dance Company is one of Australia's most successful and well-known contemporary dance companies. The company was founded in 1969 as the dance-in-education group Ballet in a Nutshell by Suzanne Musitz , later changing its name to Athletes and Dancers, and Dance Company ...
before pursuing a career as a performer and choreographer with various dance companies and independent projects within Australia and abroad. In that period he worked with The Australian Ballet, Sydney Dance Company, Opera Australia
Opera Australia
Opera Australia is the principal opera company in Australia. Based in Sydney, its performance season at the Sydney Opera House runs for approximately eight months of the year, with the remainder of its time spent in the The Arts Centre in Melbourne...
and the Netherlands Dance Theatre.
His works for Chunky Move have included stage productions, installations, site-specific works and film. His works have been performed in many festivals and theatres around the world in the U.K, Europe, Asia and the Americas. In New York, he has been presented at BAM Next Wave Festival
Brooklyn Academy of Music
Brooklyn Academy of Music is a major performing arts venue in Brooklyn, a borough of New York City, United States, known as a center for progressive and avant garde performance....
, Dance Theater Workshop
Dance Theater Workshop
Dance Theater Workshop, colloquially known as DTW, is a New York City performance space and service organization for dance companies. Located as 219 West 19th Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, DTW was founded in 1965 by Jeff Duncan, Art Bauman and...
and the Joyce Theatre.
Awards
- 20082008 Helpmann AwardsThe 2008 Helpmann Awards were presented on 28 July 2008 at the Lyric Theatre, Sydney. The ceremony was hosted by Jonathan Biggins and Julia Zemiro and was broadcast live on Bio...
Helpmann AwardHelpmann AwardThe Helpmann Awards recognize distinguished artistic achievement and excellence in Australia's live performing arts sectors. The recognized disciplines include musical and physical theatre, contemporary and classical music, opera, and dance, with a comedy category introduced in 2006...
for Glow which incorporates sophisticated interactive technology for body, sound and light won the for best ballet or dance work. - Dance Like Your Old Man a film co-directed with Edwina Throsby won best short documentary at the 2007 Melbourne International Film FestivalMelbourne International Film FestivalThe Melbourne International Film Festival is an acclaimed annual film festival held over three weeks in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1951, making it one of the oldest in the World....
- Bessie Award, with Lucy Guerin and Michael Kantor, for outstanding choreography and creation for Chunky Move's production of Tense Dave.
- Melbourne Green Room Awards for best concept and choreography for I Want to Dance Better at Parties
- a Mo Award for best choreography for Bonehead 1999
- 1996 he received the Prime Minister's Young Creative Fellowship
- 1997 the inaugural Australian Dance AwardAustralian Dance AwardsThe Australian Dance Awards recognise excellence in dance in Australia, they are awarded under the auspice of the Australian Dance Council for performance, choreography, design, dance writing, teaching and related professions....
for outstanding achievement in choreography - Mr Crowther and the Wallflower, (1989) was filmed and won the Queensland Young Filmmakers Award for 1989.
Works
- The Heat, (1987) whilst at the Australian Ballet School and later performed by the Dancers Company of The Australian Ballet.
- Drift Office, (1988) for a Queensland Ballet choreographic workshop
- Mr Crowther and the Wallflower, (1989) for an Australasian Drama Studies Association conference in 1989. Mr Crowther was subsequently filmed and won the Queensland Young Filmmakers Award for 1989.
- Sleep no more
- Petrol Head Lover (1994) Netherlands Dance Theatre
Chunky Move
- Fast Idol, (1995)
- Bonehead, (1997)
- Wet, (1998)
- FLESHMEET program, (1998)
- All the Better to Eat You With
- Corrupted
- All the Better to Eat You With
- Disco.very
- Soap
- Antistatic
- Crowds
Further reading
- 'Gideon Obarzanek: Daring Dance' in Potter, M., (1997), A Passion for Dance, Canberra: National Library of Australia, pp. 79-91.