Untrained

Not your average contemporary dance experience, Untrained is a quirky and irreverent theatrical exploration currently touring Australia after sell out success at festivals in Hong Kong, Sydney and Adelaide.

Four men take to the stage. Two are highly skilled, professional dancers who have performed in theatres across Australia; two have no dance training whatsoever and have been selected from a group of likely local lads.

Each performer responds to a series of written instructions ranging from the banal to the hilarious. The complex, refined movements one can do with ease another can only approximate – but how they approach each task, even how they walk and stand – reveals an intimate portrait of each man’s character.

Untrained began as a workshop exploring Lucy Guerin’s interest in choreographing for non-dancers. What has emerged is a rare and funny insider’s view into dance as an art form – which, at the same time, touchingly demonstrates how our everyday moves expose who and what we are.

This humorous and courageous examination of dancers and their art could only come from the highly influential Melbourne-based Lucy Guerin, who has built her reputation on movement invention and choreographic structure. Recent works for Lucy Guerin Inc include Human Interest Story, Structure and Sadness, and Corridor. She has also recently collaborated on projects with visual artist David Rosetzky and the Australian Opera.

Visit the tour blog for more videos, commentary, interviews: www.untrainedtour.com