This industrial, yet perfectly well-rounded, strong, tasteful movement performance is exactly what the theatre scene needs

Chunky Move: 4/4, performed at the Southbank centre was an absolute sensation in every possible way. Directed and conceptualised by Antony Hamilton, this performance piece strung from rhythms, timing and memory to create the most wonderful and, what felt to me, organised performance art I have ever seen.

I walked into the auditorium feeling slightly, or performers wearing black very slowly preparing themselves for the next hour. As I watched the group of eight performers tactically moved together as one, in pairs, in fours, and sometimes alone, I couldn’t help but lean forward the felt myself being mesmerised by this robotic and constructed art form. 

The soundscape was mostly built from noises, simple things like clicking sounds and  tapping, creating some sort of rhythmic base for the dances to perform to. All whilst having no true structure to this soundscape which kept me entranced and intrigued by what I was watching. The same rules applied for the lighting. The quick flickering through each light, made me see the movement from a new perspective each time. 

All eight of the performers were astonishing to the first degree. As I sat there mind blown by the visually stunning performance I kept asking myself ‘how do they do this?’ Movement would switch from slick, to satisfying, to intricate, then to mechanical. The performance was one hour non-stop, so from where I was watching there was a lot of pressure to remember this sequencing from the performers which they delivered effortlessly. Visually, I could see some figment of a story from what I was seeing with the use of 3 to 4 revolving platforms. The performers were able to build and strip away levels Creating some sort of power dynamic between some partners and duos that were forming and unfolding. 

Chunky Move have definitely made me question the process that they used to gain the ability to do this performance. It was intriguing. This industrial, yet perfectly well-rounded, strong, tasteful movement performance is exactly what the theatre scene needs. 

This is a real performance that can speak for itself, definitely a must see.