DANZTe Whaea: National Dance and Drama Centre
Wellington
20 November 2024
Choreography: Marius Petipa, Matte Roffe, Jenna Lavin, Taane Mete, Zoë Dunwoodie, Tim Podesta
Lighting Design: Wendy Clease
Costume Construction: Elishia Ward
Reviewed by Brigitte Knight
New Zealand School of Dance’s Performance Season 2024 is a singular mixed programme with six works by selected Aotearoa and international choreographers, covering classical, neoclassical, and contemporary ballet, and contemporary dance. The production is entertaining and well-balanced, presenting three sections of two works, divided by two ten-minute intervals. Each section offers one performance from the classical and contemporary streams, and all save the final work are short-format pieces. Performance Season 2024 showcases dancers from across all three year groups, however, the third year students are generally predominant in terms of expressive quality, technique, and stage presence.
Opening Performance Season 2024 is the Act 1 Waltz from the beloved The Sleeping Beauty, staged and rehearsed with detail and care by classical tutor Robert Mills after choreographer Marius Petipa. Vibrant, sumptuous costumes designed by Kaarin Slevin (constructed by Toi Whakaari second year NZ Diploma in Costume Construction students) perfectly showcase this delightful classical gem as the dancers temper the vivacious, layered, kaleidoscopic choreography with technical control, thoughtful and assured partnering, and genuine warmth. Amongst a pleasingly cohesive cast of dancers, the detail and expressive panache of Olivia Platt, Hilary An-Roddie, Mira Miejer, Josh Linkhorn, and Miguel Herrera are especially strong.
Enjoying its world premiere at Performance Season 2024, NZSD graduate Matte Roffe’s Showpony! combines a solid concept, dynamic contemporary stream cast, accessible motifs, and an effective score by composer Speedy J. Opening to a satirical sarcasm-laden review delivered by disembodied voice-over from well-known Wellington critic and NZSD tutor Lyne Pringle, Roffe’s work considers the hidden struggles, self-doubt, and quest for validation beneath the performers’ extroverted public face. Utilising constantly shifting formations, entrances, exits, groupings, and focus points Showpony! is both relatable and engaging. Costuming is impactful, although corseting appears to restrict some of the detailed spinal articulation, and Showpony! offers plentiful opportunities for a variety of dancers to shine in featured moments; one remarkable example is the bulletproof elevation of Aleeya McFadyen-Rew. Roffe’s choreographic hand is clearest in the writhing, contorted final solo danced by Stella Clarkson – a casting so perfect it appears tailor made for her cool and captivating strength.
American choreographer and ballet teacher Jenna Lavin (1967 – 2023) premiered her short neoclassical ballet (S)even choreographed to Franz Schubert’s Piano Trio No.2 in E-Flat Major in New York City at the Ailey Citigroup Theatre in 2016. NZSD is fortunate to present this first performance of the late choreographer’s work with the kind permission of her husband Cornel Crabtree. With staging by Tara Mora and rehearsal direction by Christine Gunn, Lavin’s focus on musicality-driven choreography is clear, resulting in a joyful expression of the love for ballet realised in the neoclassical style. Lavin’s movement vocabulary and staging is an appropriate vehicle for showcasing the dancers’ strengths, and in this work third year students Hilary An-Roddie and Olivia Platt, and remarkable first years Lyn Lin and Katrina Casey are especially vibrant and expressively generous.
All Eyes Open is NZSD graduate Taane Mete’s “…humanitarian response to the occupation in Gaza…”, a mesmeric, softly-spoken, oscillating work set to a score by kiwi contemporary dance favourite Eden Mulholland. Mete wields canon with utmost confidence and skill; All Eyes Open is no exception as the darkly-lit ensemble work layers dancers in space and time, building sculptural formations from low anchor points to broad swathes of bodies across the space. Mete frames the stage with his formations, rather than formatting them for the viewer, and this idiosyncrasy lays a strong foundation for the impersonal yet intimate collective energy of the large all-woman cast of twenty dancers. Anne de Geus’ costume design of full length blue-grey skirts over skin-toned leotards is apt and complementary to the choreography, however, more care with undergarments and securing the waistbands would help to secure the intended effect. Emotionally moving without falling into the bombastic, All Eyes Open offers a work of depth for the contemporary stream students and audience alike to engage with.
The final section of Performance Season 2024 begins with NZSD graduate Zoë Dunwoodie’s It’s Not Me, It’s Me choreographed to As a Matter of Fact, From From by composer David Jones and inspired by the Jan Toorop chalk, pencil, and charcoal drawing The Three Brides. Exploring the ideas of different selves curated and presented to the world (which somewhat parallels Toorop’s titular bride choosing between, in the artist’s words, “the highest consecration and the highest abstinence”) It’s Not Me, It’s Me utilises a similarly monochromatic costuming colour palette as the inspiring artwork. Initially in white sweatshirts and pants, Dunwoodie’s ensemble of dancers move with vigour and commitment through an occasionally distracting plethora of lighting states, and inventive costume manipulations. From amongst a number of interesting featured moments, a small, quiet, and beautifully fluid floor-based solo danced flawlessly by second year student Ali Mayes remains in my mind as the work’s most poignant and enduring moment.
Closing Performance Season 2024 is the longest work of the programme, Australian choreographer Tim Podesta’s 2018 contemporary ballet Forte. Five dancers costumed strikingly in scarlet move through duos, trios, and solo moments in an enduring and at times restless search for genuine connection. Combining music and spoken word from composers Ben Lukas Boysen, Daniel Brandt, Nils Frahm, and Ólafur Arnolds Forte brandishes a clean and confident choreographic voice and an engaging point of view. Podesta utilises extension as a movement motif, and contrasts this with intentionally razor-sharp isolations which explore contemporary ballet technique without ever breaking its rules. Forte’s choreography features some imaginative partnering, especially when Podesta utilises the negative space around a dancer as the connection point for others with the floor. As the seasons continues the student dancers will likely grow increasingly adept at smoothing the weight transfers and entrances to lifts, meaning this work will build in strength over time. Physically all five dancers deliver nuanced and detailed performances in a piece that puts significant demands on their stamina. Emotionally and expressively Hollie Knowles, Ella Marshall, and Liezel Herrera are particularly strong, with Herrera unflinchingly carrying the lead role in the work; this remarkable first year student is certainly one to watch.
The New Zealand School of Dance’s Performance Season 2024 presents a richly varied and thoroughly enjoyable programme of dance, and is always a valued event on the Wellington dance calendar. Congratulations to the NZSD staff and graduating students as they set forth on their pathways sharing their unique talents with the arts scene in Aotearoa and beyond.
Photo Gallery – Photographs by Stephen A’Court
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