How to choreograph a dance for performers armed, quite literally, with extra limbs?
For dance company Chunky Move's ambitious new piece U>N>I>T>E>D artistic director Antony Hamilton does just that, with dancers wearing "exoskeletons" featuring extra appendages.
The piece was partly inspired by Hamilton watching Transformers cartoons as a child - as the dancers articulate these additional limbs and attach them in various places to themselves and each other, they are very much more than meets the eye - a bit like futuristic robot insects in motorbike gear.
"It's not overstating it to say the work that we are making is unprecedented, because we have no point of reference - we have to figure it out as we go with these costumes,' said Hamilton.
"They basically give the body a whole new additional skeletal component, which has to be orchestrated and choreographed with the same sophistication as the dancer's body."
Hamilton worked with designers for weeks to explore the possibilities of these exoskeletons, and discovered that manipulating them was a bit like riding a bike or learning to drive a car - with practice, they began to feel like part of an expanded self.
The challenge in terms of choreography, he explained, was about not becoming overwhelmed by the increased range of movement available.
The renowned dance company worked with Javanese experimental music outfit Gabber Modus Operandi, Bali streetwear label Future Loundry and local animatronic designers Creature Technology Co to create the piece, as part of the Asia TOPA festival in Melbourne.
The festival is Australia's major triennial of Asia-Pacific performance, returning to Melbourne for the first time in five years (thanks to the pandemic).
It also includes theatre, music, and visual arts across its three week program, with a specific slate dedicated to nightlife, and another to workshops and talks.
Led by a new creative director Jeff Khan, it features 410 artists and collectives from 17 different countries, with 62 new works of art including 18 world premieres.
Standouts include a new commission titled Gapu Ŋupan, featuring Yolngu musicians from North East Arnhem Land and Paiwan musicians from Taiwan.
Pioneering artist William Yang will also perform a storytelling-with-pictures event titled Milestone, in front of his biggest audience yet at Hamer Hall on the opening night of the festival, with the MSO and Elena Kats-Chernin.
Asia TOPA returns from Thursday until March 10.
