Chunky Move, 4/4, Queen Elizabeth Hall

Chunky Move arrives at the Southbank from Australia bedecked in praise and awards. Founded just under three decades ago, and now under the joint direction of Antony Hamilton and Kristy Ayre, the company continues to work on the cutting edge of contemporary dance and performance, aiming to create 'bold, visually striking and genre defying dance works', with special reference to Australia's First Peoples.

4/4 premiered in Australia last year to critical acclaim. Described by the Australian Arts Review as 'a captivating meditation of meticulous, stripped-back dance' and by the ArtsHub as 'embodied, rigorous and sensorially spectacular', 4/4 is an episodic work where eight dancers kitted out in predominantly black urban street costumes, perform Antony Hamilton's mathematically exacting choreography, which incorporates moves from krump, freestyle hip-hop, house and contemporary dance.

Intensely physical, 4/4 is performed on a stage practically devoid of props to Alisdair Macindoe's three-dimensional sound design, which uses metronome arrangements to create both harmony and discord. The whole thing is complemented and enhanced by Bosco Shaw's moody lighting design,

Described by Antony Hamilton himself as 'probably the most densely complex choreographic work I’ve ever made', 4/4 was deemed by the Australian Arts Review to be a work that 'continues to push the boundaries in how audiences experience performance.'

It sounds well worth viewing.