Poster image for Pōhutu. We see the unclothed backs of two women lying on their sides. One is curled on top of the other. 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 com­pel­ling imagery I’ve seen in per­form­ance. Hyslop and fel­low per­former and devis­or Rosie Tapsell stride, leap, slink, and roll through the set and light pro­jec­tions by Row­an Pierce. Their move­ment is tur­bu­lent, some­times emphas­ised by judi­cious use of strobe light­ing. Their part­ner work plays with grav­ity and mass, evok­ing gey­sers, rivers, stone and earth­quakes. The cos­tumes by Emma Rans­ley peel away while trans­lu­cence and opa­city altern­ate. They are enchant­ing. Haze becomes anoth­er per­former set­tling heav­ily on stage, drift­ing out towards the audi­ence. Tūī Matira Rana­piri-Rans­field is the Mātanga Mātaur­anga Māori and this is infused through­out the per­form­ance. 

Pōhutu is a mul­ti­di­men­sion­al con­tem­por­ary dance piece that thrives in lim­in­al space. I feel the truth of the whakataukī Kia whakatōmuri te haere whakamua as I watch. The past, the present, and the future exist at the same time in the same space. We walk back­ward into our futures build­ing on the know­ledge from the past. All the ele­ments cohere in bal­ance.

Incred­ible.

Con­tent warn­ing: includes strobe light­ing, haze, nud­ity.