gideon obarzanek
Gideon Obarzanek became interested in dance towards the end of high school and after graduating deferred science at university to study at the Australian Ballet School. He later danced with the Queensland Ballet and the Sydney Dance Company before working as an independent performer and choreographer with various dance companies and independent projects within Australia and abroad.
Founded in Australia in 1995, Obarzanek’s company, Chunky Move, produces a distinct yet unpredictable brand of genre-defying dance performance. Obarzanek’s works have been diverse in form and content and include stage productions, installations, site-specific works and film. His multi-award winning works have been performed in many festivals and theatres around the world in the UK, Europe, Asia and the Americas.
Obarzanek’s film, Dance Like Your Old Man, co-directed with Edwina Throsby, won Best Short Documentary at the 2007 Melbourne International Film Festival, 2008 Flickerfest International Short Film Festival and Best Film at the Cinedans Festival in Amsterdam. In collaboration with Lucy Guerin and Michael Kantor, Obarzanek has eceived a New York Bessie award for outstanding choreography and creation for Chunky Move’s production Tense Dave. In 2008 he received two Australian Helpmann Awards for Glow and Mortal Engine. In 2009, Mortal Engine received an Honorary Mention in the Prix Ars Electronica awards in the Hybrid Arts category.
Gideon Obarzanek resigned as Artistic Director of Chunky Move late 2010. (Text courtesy of artist)
Works by gideon obarzanek
interviews
gideon obarzanek: daring dance
michelle potter, a passion for dance, canberra: national library of australia, 1997, pp. 79-91
new home, new media, new moves
erin brannigan, realtime 49, june-july, 2002]
education feature: dance: the search for intelligence and charisma
wendy lasica, realtime 56, august-september, 2003
realtime video interview: gideon obarzanek, connected
keith gallasch: realtime dance massive feature
kinetic art machine makes waves for dance
john bailey: realtime dance massive feature
dance stands up for itself, sydney dance company, interplay
erin brannigan, realtime 119, feburary-march, 2014
articles/reviews: other works by gideon obarzanek
my brother-in-law’s most dysfunctional marriage, 1995
next steps
virginia baxter, realtime 7, june-july, 1995
while you’re down there, 1998
three for the road
kate fletcher, realtime 27, october-november, 1998
c.o.r.r.u.p.t.e.d 1 & 2
fleshmeet, chunky move
keith gallasch and virginia baxter, realtime 27, october-november 1998
the limits of limits
philipa rothfield, realtime 28, december 1998-january 1999
all the better to eat you with, 1999
cyberistic power and human frailty
eleanor brickhill, realtime 33, october-november, 1999
bodyparts, 1999
in the design
realtime, realtime 30, april-may 1999
chunky news
realtime, realtime 32, august-september 1999
hydra, 2000
chunky move dances the irreducible
philipa rothfield, realtime 39, october-november, 2000
crumpled, 2000
falling, breaking and at an end
philipa rothfield, realtime 40, december 2000-january 2001
arcade, 2001
consumption a la mode
philipa rothfield, realtime 43, june-july, 2001
closer, 2002
part 1: smoothing the visceral/virtual mix
keith gallasch and virginia baxter, realtime 51, october-november 2002
introduction: feeding the need
realtime, realtime 52, december 2002-january 2003
singularity, 2006
ambiguities of being
philipa rothfield, realtime 74, august-september, 2006
dance like your old man, 2007
next: evolving dance
realtime, realtime 84, april-may 2008
memories spoken and embodied
jodie mcneilly, realtime 85, june-july, 2008
reframing the dance screen
christinn whyte, realtime 89, february-march, 2009
two faced bastard, 2008
awestruck by dance
john bailey, realtime 88, december 2008-january 2009
black marrow, 2009
dancing up the apocalypse
sophie travers, realtime 93, october-november, 2009
faker, 2010
reflections on self and body
pauline manley, realtime 100, december 2010-january 2011
the truth of the matter, or not
jana perkovic: realtime dance massive feature
connected, 2011
the art machine dances
keith gallasch: realtime dance massive feature
kinetics: sculpted & danced
carl nilsson-polias: realtime dance massive feature
assembly, 2011
bodies, flocks and crowds
john bailey: realtime 106, december 2011-january 2012
black cultural capital
keith gallasch: realtime 107, february-march 2011
there’s definitely a prince involved
something borrowed, something true blue
varia karipoff, realtime 108, april-may, 2012
l’chaim, interplay, sydney dance company
enter the real world
erin brannigan, realtime 120, april-may 2014
–
Thumbnail: Gideon Obarzanek, Faker, photo Heidrun Löhr, courtesy Sydney Opera House
