Gideon Obarzanek
... artistic director and choreographer, studied at the Australian Ballet School and after graduating in 1987, danced with the Queensland Ballet and the Sydney Dance Company. Obarzanek has choreographed for Australia's major dance companies, including the Australian Ballet, Sydney Dance Company, the West Australian Ballet and Tasdance. His international choreographic credits include 'Slow Me Up and Speed Me Down' for Israel's Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company, 'Petrol Head Lover', 'Cool White Fridge Knocked Over', his first full length work, 'Lurch', for Nederlands Dans Theater II and 'C.O.R.R.U.P.T.E.D' for Nederlands Dans Theatre I.In 1995, Obarzanek founded Chunky Move. As Artistic Director, he has secured its position as one of the leading Australian contemporary dance companies. Chunky Move has performed at international festivals and toured extensively across Australia.
Gideon has received several awards and nominations for his choreography. In 1994, he was awarded the Sir Robert Helpmann Scholarship by the New South Wales Ministry of the Arts. In 1996, he received the 'Prime Minister's Young Creative Fellowship' and in 1997, his choreography for 'Bonehead' was nominated for Russia's Benois de la Danse Prize and was also awarded the 1999 Mo Award for 'Best Male Dancer - Choreography'.
"Chunky Move is a group of fine individualistic dancers who have been shaped by their director and choreographer, Gideon Obarzanek into a wild and weirdly entertaining ensemble." THE SUNDAY AGE
"...his (Obarzanek's) mode of communication reverberates with freshness. His dance strikes a tempo of the times. He demands of his dancers a level of highly exacting unruliness. They are as much athletes as dancers." THE ADVERTISER
Gideon has received several awards and nominations for his choreography. In 1994, he was awarded the Sir Robert Helpmann Scholarship by the New South Wales Ministry of the Arts. In 1996, he received the 'Prime Minister's Young Creative Fellowship' and in 1997, his choreography for 'Bonehead' was nominated for Russia's Benois de la Danse Prize and was also awarded the 1999 Mo Award for 'Best Male Dancer - Choreography'.
"Chunky Move is a group of fine individualistic dancers who have been shaped by their director and choreographer, Gideon Obarzanek into a wild and weirdly entertaining ensemble." THE SUNDAY AGE
"...his (Obarzanek's) mode of communication reverberates with freshness. His dance strikes a tempo of the times. He demands of his dancers a level of highly exacting unruliness. They are as much athletes as dancers." THE ADVERTISER
