Force Majeure (dance company)

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Force Majeure is a contemporary dance and dance theatre company based in Sydney, Australia, resident at Carriageworks cultural precinct. As of 2024 its artistic director and CEO is Danielle Micich.

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History and governance

The company was established in 2002 by choreographer Kate Champion, [1] along with co-founders and colleagues Roz Hervey and Geoff Cobham. [2] Champion remained artistic director of the company until 2015. [3]

As of November 2024 its artistic director and CEO is Danielle Micich, [4] who was appointed AD in 2017. [5]

Description

Force Majeure is a resident company of Carriageworks in Sydney. It is a national "multidisciplinary movement-based theatre company", that often collaborates with other artists. [6] The company runs a professional development program called INCITE as well as supporting resident artists in their Associate Artist program with mentorship, company infrastructure, and project funding. [7]

Notable works and other people

For over a decade, Adelaide dancer Roz Hervey worked closely with Force Majeure. For her performance in Kate Champion's Same, Same But Different in 2002, she received the Ausdance award for outstanding performance by a female dancer. [8]

Geoff Cobham was associate director of the company from 2002 to 2012, before moving to Adelaide to join the State Theatre Company of South Australia as lighting designer. [9] [10]

Never Did Me Any Harm (2012), exploring parenting, was a joint production with Sydney Theatre Company which premiered at the Sydney Festival, and starred actors Marta Dusseldorp, Vincent Crowley, and Heather Mitchell. Dancer Sarah-Jayne Howard performed a "marvelous, rigorous, confronting solo dance work", according to Sydney Arts Guide reviewer David Kary. [11] Champion directed the work, with Cobham responsible for set design and lighting. Andrew Upton acted as dramaturg, with Roz Hervey as associate director and Geordie Brookman as assistant director, while Max Lyandvert composed the music. [12] The production also played at the Adelaide Festival in 2012, and was reprised in 2016, touring to regional New South Wales, Tasmania, and Victoria. [13]

Another notable work was Nothing to Lose (2015), concerning fat bodies and featuring large-bodied performers. The work, performed as part of the Sydney Festival, was choreographed by Champion and her artistic associate, Kelli Jean Drinkwater, an internationally known "fat activist". [14]

You Animal, You, which explored the sense of smell, also premiered at the Sydney Festival, and also starred Heather Mitchell, who co-wrote the script with artistic director Danielle Micich. The Guardian reviewer was impressed by "the birth scene, so vividly portrayed by Australian Dance Theatre's Harrison Elliot". [5]

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Roz Hervey was a dancer, choreographer, director, and producer. She was known for roles as co-founder of and associate artist with Sydney dance-theatre company Force Majeure, as director of the Adelaide Fringe parade from 2013 until 2016, and finally, from around 2013, as creative director of Restless Dance Theatre in Adelaide, South Australia. She also worked with many other theatre and dance companies, as well as festivals and other events.

References

  1. ↑ "Dance and theatre combine in a Hunger Games-style social experiment". ABC News. 5 January 2018. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  2. ↑ "Kate Champion resigns from Force Majeure". Ausdance . 3 September 2014. Retrieved 28 November 2024. Force Majeure, the company I established together with my colleagues Roz Hervey and Geoff Cobham,...
  3. ↑ "Board & Staff". Black Swan State Theatre Company. 27 September 2023. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
  4. ↑ "Our Team". Force Majeure. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
  5. 1 2 Sebag-Montefiore, Clarissa (9 January 2018). "You Animal, You review – Force Majeure's new work a gladiatorial dance contest with no clear objective". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  6. ↑ "FORCE MAJEURE". Carriageworks. 20 February 2024. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
  7. ↑ "About". Force Majeure. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
  8. ↑ Fewster, Russell (13 November 2024). "'I have seen how the arts has changed people': remembering Roz Hervey and her contribution to Australian dance". The Conversation . Retrieved 22 November 2024.
  9. ↑ Von Einem, Johnny (23 August 2018). "Geoff Cobham's last set". CityMag. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  10. ↑ Keys, Vanessa (16 July 2019). "Geoff Cobham's flight of fancy". The Adelaide Review. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  11. ↑ "never did me any harm". Sydney Arts Guide. 16 January 2012. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
  12. ↑ "Never Did Me Any Harm: Education Resources Pre‐Production" (PDF). Sydney Theatre Company. 2012. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
  13. ↑ "Roz Hervey". AusStage . Retrieved 28 November 2024.
  14. ↑ Hennessy, Kate (25 January 2015). "Nothing To Lose review – Force Majeure showcases big bodies and bigger ideas". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
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