Arts Centre Melbourne and NGV Present Monica Bill Barnes and Company's 'The Gallery Workout'

From July 14 to August 18, join New York's most imaginative dance company and an ensemble of Australian dancers in a 50 minute exercise tour through the corridors and gallery spaces of Arts Centre Melbourne and the NGV, outside of opening hours. The Gallery Workout is sure to inspire new perspectives on the art of the ages through movement, unforgettable music and stories from celebrated American artist Maira Kalman. This season, supported by health promotion foundation VicHealth, will be part of MEL&NYC, a new program of multi-disciplinary events taking place this winter in Melbourne.

Originally created for The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, this entirely original and audacious work invites the public to follow the choreography and experience art like you have never before. Exploring what happens when you combine an art tour with an elevated heartrate, this unique New York in Melbourne event reinvents the guided tour in an illicit trespass though our iconic art institutions complete with squats, fist-pumping and a power pop soundtrack.

Monica Bill Barnes & Company is a contemporary American dance company that brings dance where it does not belong. The company creates and produces each work entirely from its own rulebook-dancing to radio interviews on the biggest stages in the world, hosting a weekly show in a crowded office party, or leading a choreographed exercise routine in an art museum. Within each of these new contexts and borrowed environments, they constantly find humor in our awkward, everyday triumphs and failures.

Monica Bill Barnes is the co-creator of the highly successful show Three Acts, Two Dancers, One Radio-Host, in which she and Associate Director Anna Bass perform next to radio host Ira Glass. The company consists of a team of collaborators - Monica Bill Barnes (Artistic Director/Choreographer/Performer); Anna Bass (Associate Artistic Director/Performer); Robbie Saenz de Viteri (Creative Producing Director/Performer) and designers Kelly Hanson (Set/Costume) and Jane Cox (Lighting).

Monica Bill Barnes & Company says, "We created this work for The Metropolitan Museum of Art. We performed it over one hundred times last year and felt so excited about creating a new way to experience one of the most iconic places in New York City. It's an honour to share this hometown experience with Melbourne as part of MEL&NYC."

Edwina Lunn, Arts Centre Melbourne Executive Producer ACM Presents says of the upcoming season, "this is truly such a fun work and a unique opportunity for people to experience Arts Centre Melbourne and the NGV for a little bit of exercise and a behind the scenes sneak peek early in the morning before the doors open to the public. This is definitely not to be missed. We are thrilled to be working with such a world renowned company, Melbourne get your dancing shoes on!"

Donna McColm, NGV Associate Director, Audience Engagement and Learning says "the Gallery Workout brings together art and people in a unique setting where participants can learn and have an enjoyable and active experience in one. It is exciting that Melbourne audiences will have this very special opportunity to see NGV and Arts Centre Melbourne from a new perspective thanks to New York's Monica Bill Barnes & Company."

VicHealth CEO Jerril Rechter says you don't have to be a dancer to do The Gallery Workout, "The Gallery Workout is all about getting a fun, accessible workout while checking out some great art. Taking part in the arts is so important for our mental wellbeing, promoting creativity, confidence, participation and social connection. We encourage Victorians to get their tickets to this heart pumping, exclusive early-morning tour through our world-renowned galleries.

This winter, leading Melbourne cultural venues and communities will come together to present MEL&NYC, an unprecedented program of events that explore culture, politics, business and everyday experience seen through the eyes of leading New Yorkers and Australians. Extending across the city from June to August 2018, the program presents live conversations, music, performance, dining, education exchange and community participation. Program partners include: Arts Centre Melbourne, Asia Society, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Australian Centre for the Moving Image, Chunky Move, Melbourne Food and Wine Festival, Melbourne International Jazz Festival, Melbourne Museum, Melbourne Recital Centre, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Theatre Company, Melbourne Writers Festival, The Lowy Institute, the National Gallery of Victoria and The Wheeler Centre. MEL&NYC is supported by the Victorian Government.

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