Chunky Move
Presented by University of Melbourne Arts and Culture
Chunky Move’s award-winning dance work 4/4 will return to Naarm/Melbourne this November for three highly-anticipated performances presented by University of Melbourne Arts and Culture (UMAC) at the Union Theatre. This limited run gives hometown audiences a final chance to experience the enthralling work before Chunky Move premieres 4/4 in the UK and Europe, kicking off the six city tour in London at the Southbank Centre, the UK’s largest arts centre and heart of London’s cultural life.
Directed and choreographed by ChunkyMove’s Artistic Director and co- CEO Antony Hamilton, 4/4 premiered in August 2023 at Malthouse Theatre to sold out crowds and rave reviews hailing the complex performance as ‘fine work of the highest order’ (Subculture Media), and ‘embodied, rigorous and sensorially spectacular’ (ArtsHub).
4/4 is a hypnotic meditation of meticulous dance combining choreographic precision, minimalist design and rugged street aesthetics. Eight dancers embark on an episodic performance, unfolding segment by segment, with each building energetically upon the last, while quartets and duets converge.
Speaking about the return of 4/4, Hamilton said; “Chunky Move has enjoyed a long standing reputation internationally as a dance company with a distinctive Australian voice like no other. The dancers of 4/4 bring this voice into sharp focus, with their incredible precision and grit for endurance, embodying the choreographic language with style and technical mastery. The whole ensemble and team are excited to take this 2023 hit work to the world stage, and we can’t wait to share with audiences across Europe after our tour kicks of in our home city of Naarm.” 
4/4’s exceptional cast comes together melding dancers from a diverse range of disciplines including street, contemporary, theatre and ballet. Melissa Pham, David Prakash, Harrison Ritchie-Jones, Aimee Schollum, Michaela Tancheff, Nikki Tarling and JaydenWall return from the original 4/4 line-up, while the talented Kyall Shanks joins the cast for the first time.
Hamilton collaborated with a close-knit crew of creatives to bring the work to life with lighting design by Bosco Shaw, streetwear-inspired costume designs by long time collaborator Paula Levis and sound design by Alisdair Macindoe, who took home a Green Room Award for Sound Design earlier this year in April for his contribution to the work.
After the short UMAC season and the London premiere, Hamilton and the cast will tour 4/4 across prestigious venues in Brussels, Oslo, Heerlen, Porto and Luxembourg, showcasing the work to an anticipated European audience of nearly ten thousand people.
Chunky Move has a long history of delivering successful international tours showcasing the distinct talent of Victorian artists over the past 28 years. This will be the first extended European tour for the company under the creative leadership of Hamilton, reintroducing European audiences to the ground- breaking work of Hamilton and Chunky Move, and reinforcing their seminal impact on dance practice globally.
