Luke Smiles - Dancer & Composer
In 1980 at the age of six Luke decided to step into a ballet class at the Miranda Kalgovas Ballet School. Ten years later he left to continue his formal training at the Victorian College of the Arts where upon graduating in 1994 he received a Bachelor of Dance.
During the first year of his professional career Luke became a founding member of Chunky Move, dancing in a season of works by Gideon Obarzanek (the Artistic Director of Chunky Move) and Garry Stewart (the current Artistic Director of ADT).
Over the last thirteen years Luke has enjoyed many national and international performances with companies and choreographers such as Chunky Move, Vis-a-Vis Dance Canberra, The One Extra Dance Company, Meryl Tankard’s Australian Dance Theatre, Paul Selwyn Norton, Thwack, ADT, Byron Perry, Lucy Guerin Inc., Antony Hamilton and Balletlab.
The personal highlight of Luke’s career lies in the mutual admiration and respect he finds within a group of his closest friends who are undoubtedly the best dancers in Australia.
The introduction of a Commodore 64 computer into the family home in the early 80’s began Luke’s fascination with computers and music. Having had no formal musical training but instead yielding to a keen interest in how things work, Luke has developed a unique rapport among choreographers in the development of music for dance. His approach to music and his background as a dancer have enabled him to collaborate with choreographers through a shared understanding of each other’s discipline.
Working under his business name Motion Laboratories Luke has composed and produced soundtracks for the Nederlands Dans Theatre, Rambert Dance Company and many of Australia’s best dance companies including; Australian Dance Theatre, Chunky Move, West Australian Ballet, Stompin, Tasdance, Dancenorth and Splintergroup.
Luke’s collaborative commitment to Chunky Move has resulted in the creation and performance of soundtracks for Corrupted 2, All The Better To Eat You With, Live Acts, Wanted and Glow.