As part of this year’s Melbourne Fringe, Scimm. Dance is performing Mechorstra at the Fringe Hub at Trades Hall - ETU Ballroom, Carlton South for a limited season from October 18-21. Artistic Directors Scott Pokorny and Tim Barnes answered a few questions from Dance Australia in the lead up to their Melbourne Fringe performances. Tickets are available here.
How would you describe Mechorstra to audiences who haven't seen it?
Mechorstra is an innovative and visually stunning production that delves into the dynamic relationship between movement and music. The story follows an orchestra and its conductor striving for perfection that slowly descends into chaos. The choreography blends elements of contemporary dance, ballet and physical theatre. Our goal was to create an entirely brand new work to showcase our dancer's athletic ability and technical precision along with challenging ourselves choreographically.
Where do you see Scimm. Dance Company in another 10 years?
This is Scimm. Dance Company’s 10th anniversary which we celebrated earlier this year with a special anniversary performance. In 10 years from now, we see ourselves with a full-time professional company and our own state of the art studios and facilities.
Are the cast of 14 dancers paid for their performances?
We have a cast of 14 dancers and six on the creative team. All of our cast and crew are paid for every performance and show season and their work behind-the-scenes. Our company is primarily self-funded, and we are striving to receive funding in the future to help build more opportunities for our cast and crew.
Where does the name 'Scimm' come from? I assumed it is an amalgam of Scott and Tim, but perhaps I am wrong?
Yes, that's right! The name Scimm. comes from mixing both of the director's names Scott and Tim together into one word with the extra ‘M’ at the end, standing for Melbourne. We've gone through a recent rebrand from Scimm. Dance Company to Scimm. Dance as our business has continued to grow and evolve. We started out focusing on contemporary dance performances with Scimm. Dance Company and will continue to do so but we now have expanded ourselves to include dance education with Scimm. Dance Pre-Professional: a comprehensive full-time training course tailored to an elite pre-professional level in contemporary dance alongside our Ascension Training Program: weekly extension programs for dancers aged 8 to 19 years who want to build their technique, creativity and knowledge of contemporary dance.
Who composed the music for Mechorstra?
The music for Mechorstra is made up of a mixture of different artists and composers taking loose inspiration from Disney’s Fantasia 2000 and inspiration from the director's love of house and electronic music. The show features tracks from Beethoven, George Gershwin and German house duo, Superflu.
Anything else you'd like to share with Dance Australia readers.
We are so incredibly excited to showcase the incredible cast for this show. The dancers we have this year are world class and we can’t wait to introduce them to our ever-expanding audience!