Chinaksi Sessions brings rock energy to contemporary dance

19 Oct 2012 in Aberdeen City & Shire, Dance & Drama, Highland, Moray

Edinburgh based David Hughes Dance Scotland will perform their new show, THE CHINASKI SESSIONS, a modern, gritty and entertaining show that features both dance and theatre within a live rock concert, in Aberdeen, Findhorn and Wick as part of a UK tour.

With a wink to Charles Bukowski’s cult character Henry Chinaski, Australian choreographer Kylie Walters coaxes seven testosterone-crazed men to live through an evening of debauchery and revelation. Trapped in a rock-band’s home studio as they try to finish their new album, this live concert collides the virtuoso Belgian rock duo I Love Sarah’s scorching math rock with five superb Scottish based performers amongst copious amounts of bravaderie and chaos.

In a halfway house for low lifes, where a band, their mates and their fans hang out, play, dance and dream, the live sessions become a playing field for old grievances, one-upmanship and reconciliations. Vicious drumming, cutting wit, frenzied theatre and a myriad of visceral choreographic skirmishes form a microcosm of manhood stretching from juvenile misbehaviour to sublime creative insight.

For The Chinaski Sessions David Hughes Dance Scotland has brought together a diversely talented group of Scottish based performers. Matthew Foster, Martin Lindinger, Michael Sherin, Jack Webb and Rob Heaslip seamlessly merge their individual dance styles (contemporary, breakdance, ballet, Irish) with dynamic physical theatre, surreal humour and live music on stage from Belgian musicians Jeroen Stevens and Rutger De Brabander.

Unplugging the force of the body and coaxing the movements from their most recognizable anthropologic beginnings to the most accomplished technique, the dancers wildly romp over the stale ground of contemporary dance as they emulate the frank expression and shameless inventiveness of rock.

Choreographer, Kylie Walters, said: ‘My challenge for The Chinaski Sessions was to create a true hang-out on stage which would allow for all sorts of possibilities – be they humorous or sinister. From there, I wanted the energy to be free to surge into both moments of formal beauty and of high chaos – to discover personalities without the ball and chain of ‘character’. I hope that The Chinaski Sessions brings the federating energy of live rock music, the rapture and fierce elation that it inspires in people, through into the realm of dance.’

The creative team behind The Chinaksi Sessions includes Kylie Walters, a European-based performer, director and choreographer working across theatre, dance and music, creative producer David M Hughes and lighting designer and production manager Simon Gane.

The Chinaski Sessions is supported by Creative Scotland and the Traverse Theatre, in addition to public funding from the National Lottery through Arts Council England.

Listings Information:

25th October: Lemon Tree, Dance Live 2012, Aberdeen AB24 5AT 7pm

£7.50+booking fee Box Office: 01224 641122 www.boxofficeaberdeen.com

26th October: Universal Hall, Findhorn IV36 3TZ 8pm

£10/8/£6 under 16 Box Office: 01309 691170 www.universalhall.co.uk

27th October: Pulteney Centre, Wick KW1 5BA 8pm

£12/£10/£6 Box Office: 01955 641434 www.lytharts.org.uk