Winifred Haun & Dancers tour to Melbourne
Winifred Haun & Dancers, a professional modern dance company based in Chicago, USA, is currently in Melbourne collaborating with renowned Australian circus artist Emma Serjeant, formerly of Casus Circus. Serjeant and award-winning choreographer Winifred Haun are co-creating a new work that combines contemporary dance and circus.
Currently titled Trashed, this innovative movement-based work will, according to Haun, “explore our increasingly messy world, which is filled with way, way too much stuff.” Haun added, “Humans are natural hoarders and we all have too many things. The real tragedy is that these things are taking priority over the other humans in our lives.”
The collaboration is in residence at Circus Oz and Chunky Move in Melbourne. The creative incubation period runs through October 3, with an open rehearsal scheduled for Friday night, September 30 at Circus Oz for curious minds.
Haun, with her dancers Timothy Bowser, Zada Cheeks, Ariel Dorsey and Rebekah Kuczma, are also working with circus consultant Shayna Swanson of Aloft Circus Arts.
No new kids on the block, Winifred Haun & Dancers brings a plethora of experience to the collaboration. The company has created, presented and produced over 125 original dance works in its 25-year history. It has commissioned 32 original musical scores and participated in over 270 public performances and events. Garnering many awards and accolades, including Critic’s Choice from the Chicago Reader and TimeOut Chicago, Winifred Haun & Dancers received the Ruth Page Award for “Outstanding Contribution to Dance in Chicago” in 2000 for initiating and producing Chicago’s NEXT Dance Festival.
This international collaboration is sponsored by a major grant from the International Connections Fund of the John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. For further information on Winifred Haun & Dancers, visit www.WinifredHaun.org.
Photo courtesy of Winifred Haun & Dancers.