Coalescing Towards
Presented by STRUT Dance in association with Tura and Perth Festival
STRUT Dance presents Italian artist Michele Rizzo’s bespoke offering Coalescing Towards for the PERTH MOVES hub in association with Tura and Perth Festival.
A choreography that combines contemplation with a gradual intensification of energy and cohesion, the performance explores two key concepts of repetition and unison, to delve into the essence of movement as a medium for forging togetherness. It is rooted in Michele’s choreographic pieces from his series HIGHER xtn., Reaching, and Rest, which draw inspiration from communal dancing.
Coalescing Towards was created in collaboration with local and international dance artists from the Perth MOVES Laboratory and features an original composition by an Australian sound artist Ozlem Kesik commissioned by Tura.
Michele Rizzo
Director and Choreographer
Ozlem Kesic
Composer
Plyanci is the alias of Boorloo based electronic artist Ozlem Kesik. Kesik’s idiosyncratic practice explores the endearing aesthetics of failure. Incorporating humor and meta irony, Kesik’s work embraces maximal rhythms and electronic glitches as a reflection of our own human fallibility, emotionality, and fragility. Their work draws inspiration from Hyperpop, Techno, Drum & Bass as well as the visual art aesthetics of weirdcore.
Michele Rizzo is an Italian artist living between Amsterdam and Milan since 2007. He combines choreography and visual arts to often explore the fusion of club culture and art. His early trilogy of works, starting with "Higher" in 2015, delved into club aesthetics and expanded into immersive spatial experiences in “Spacewalk” (2017). "Deposition" (2019) examined seeing as an act of validation of both performer and spectator. In 2016, Rizzo ventured into the visual arts, collaborating with Amsterdam's "If I Can't Dance I Don't Want To Be Part Of Your Revolution" gallery. His work "HIGHER xtn." (2018) entered the Stedelijk Museum's collection and toured extensively in Europe. In 2020, he continued his research in the visual arts with "Rest" (2020), blending choreography, sculpture, and music, presented at the Quadriennale of Rome and acquired by the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo. Rizzo also ventured into fashion collaborations with brands like MARNI, Magliano and Off-White. In 2021, the performance “Reaching" premiered at the KW Institute for Contemporary Art in Berlin, created in collaboration with the Julia Stoschek Collection. In the same year Rizzo made his video debut with "Rest" (2021), inspired by his earlier installation work for the Quadriennale of Rome. The video was acquired by the Amsterdam Stedelijk Museum. Rizzo's role as a lecturer in esteemed institutions, including the SNDO School for New Dance Development in Amsterdam, adds to his multidisciplinary influence in contemporary art and performance.
Tura acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn and create. We pay our respects to Elders past and present. With solidarity and friendship we say thank you.
