Force Majeure comes of age

Force Majeure lives up to its name – either a French ‘irresistible compulsion’ or a legal ‘act-of-god’ – as it continues to push the boundaries of contemporary dance.

Part dance, part performance and part theatre company, Force Majeure wrapped up a return season of its critically acclaimed The Age I’m In at Sydney’s CarriageWorks in January.

They went on to thrill many of the 300,000 people who thronged into central Sydney during the Sydney Festival 2009’s free first night extravaganza at Martin Place.

The Age I'm In has been selected to tour nationally to over 17 venues through the Australia Council's Roadwork initiative which is run by Performing Lines.

Having recently secured an Australia Council emerging key organisations grant, Force Majeure finds itself in pleasantly unfamiliar territory as it now sets about realising a three-year calendar for itself.

The company’s artistic director and driving force is the renowned dancer and choreographer Kate Champion. She is accustomed to living and working on the sharp edge of oblivion and was still getting used to the idea of her company’s newfound longevity.

Formed in 2002 as a movement-based theatre company by Kate Champion with dancers Geoff Cobham and Roz Hervey, Force Majeure employs a multitude of artists – including actors, dancers, designers, writers, visual artists, composers and filmmakers.

The work uses recordings of over 80 (extra) ordinary people. These are cleverly coupled with handheld video screens representing the fragmentation of characters, and edited then embodied by a cast of lip-synching actors aged 15 to 80.

Force Majeure is currently fielding offers to perform as far afield as Dublin, Montreal and Korea. The company has also been approached by Cate Blanchett and Andrew Upton to see how Force Majeure might positively influence the text-based productions of the Sydney Theatre Company.

Image: Force Majeure, The Age I'm In. Photo: William Yang