Giselle by the Royal New Zealand Ballet

Giselle is a ballet I know very little about, aside from one episode of Angel and reading the synopsis on Wikipedia: The ghost-filled ballet tells the tragic, romantic story of a beautiful young peasant girl who falls for the flirtations of the deceitful and disguised nobleman Albrecht. When the ruse is revealed, the fragile Giselle dies […]

Preview: The Slutcracker

From School For Gifted Children, and the creator of Change Your Own Life comes a new queer ballet for Christmas. Loosely based on the classic Tchaikovsky ballet The Nutcracker, The Slutcracker tells the story of a queer chosen family Christmas gathering, and a romantic whirlwind night through the queer streets of Wellington. Director Jean Sergent says “I […]

Preview: Ecology in Fifths

Award-winning director and performance designer Sam Trubridge is bringing a bold new performance to Te Whaea this August. Taking inspiration from H Guthrie Smith’s ‘Tutira: The Story of an NZ Sheep Station’ (1921), Ecology in Fifths enacts this obsessive account of NZ ecology — now a recognised classic in environmental science worldwide. Piece by piece, the […]

Interview Feature: Venus Rising

I sat down with Katherine Minor, a soloist with the Royal New Zealand Ballet, to discuss rehearsing during COVID lockdown, what it’s like being back in the studio, and the RNZB’s upcoming Venus Rising tour.  The Royal New Zealand Ballet will be one of the first dance companies in the world to return to the […]

Review: Pōhutu

Pōhutu is a multidimensional contemporary dance piece that thrives in liminal space. Drawing parallels between Choreographer Bianca Hyslop’s grandmother’s diagnosis of Alzheimers and the geothermal landscape she grew up in, it’s an unsettling and utterly beautiful work. The beginning and end sequences draw gasps from the audience. The middle sequences contain some of the most […]

Review: System

A sparse set – two walls, some tape on the floor –  is given character by lighting (Natasha James) and projection effects (Jason Wright). Flickerings along the edges of furniture, spinning triangles, water on the base of the wall, clearly defined shadows. A light rectangle becomes something to investigate. The score (Jason Wright) is an […]

Review: STOA

A stoa, in Greek architecture, is a portico used as a promenade or meeting place. For the NZ School of Dance, it’s a place to bring people together for exploring new ideas and challenges. Well, technically two places. We returned to our seats after intermission only to be lured into a new space. (pro tip: […]

Review: Meremere

Simply put, Meremere is a memoir come to life. I don’t feel qualified to ‘review’ the piece and the rich layers of culture, history, identity, and art contained within. It’s not quite dance, nor a film or a play – there’s a rawness that will appeal to those well-versed in the performing arts as much […]

Preview: Meremere

Meremere is a powerful and moving performance in which dancer Rodney Bell (Ngāti Maniapoto) brings to life his incredible journey; ranging from the highs of an international performance career to the lows of homelessness in America to redemption in the form of a return to Aotearoa and reconnection with his Māori and artistic heritage. It […]

Preview: Kia Mau Festival

The fourth Kia Mau Festival is on from 1-16 June 2018. A contemporary Indigenous theatre and dance experience, the festival celebrates Māori, Pasifika, First Nations artists and their companies. Kia Mau Festival is an innovative experience for whānau and communities throughout the Wellington region to engage with Tangata Whenua and First Nations artists from across […]