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Springing Into The Spring Festivals

It is that time of year again when the festivals start coming in waves. The country has plenty of dance for you to sink your teeth into this September and October.

Arts Festival Dunedin
30 September-9 October / DUNEDIN
A boutique festival in a boutique city.
The biennial Arts Festival Dunedin will see a diverse programme of events staged over ten days. Java Dance Company will delight young and older audiences with two of their magical works. Dirt and Other Delicious Ingredients – a playful dance in a world that starts in the dirt and ends in the sky and The Wine Project – a decadent performance layered with worldly flavours, aromas and live music. Hip-hop also has a place in this year’s festival with Out of the Box, a fusion of street and contemporary dance, featuring some of Aotearoa’s top male Hip-Hop dancers and choreographers who break ‘out of the box’ of competition rules to tell their own stories through pure dance. http://www.artsfestivaldunedin.co.nz/ 

TEMPO Dance Festival
4-16 October / AUCKLAND
Encompassing a world of dance and movement.

A peek into TEMPO Dance Festival 2016 reveals a growing event full of diversity and incredible talent. The festival has gone above and beyond this year with an eclectic range of artists and performances. This year’s highlights come in the form of the revival of Michael Parmenter’s Insolent River: A Tango, described as a ‘seminal work’. Along with Insolent River as a festival opener is Taumata – Four New Works. Taumata brings together stunning works by NZ choreographers Loughlan Prior (RNZB), Taane Mete (Okareka Dance Company), Bianca Hyslop and dancers from the NZ School of Dance and The New Zealand Dance Company; and Sarah Foster Sproull. Other shows to keep an eye out for are Swaroopa Unni’s solo Bharatanatyam in Sringaram – Dance of Love; a contemporary feminist piece Hakari: The Dinner Party performed by Wellington’s Crow’s Feet Dance Collection; jazz showcase All That choreographed by Kayla Paige; and Meremere an autobiographical story of Rodney Bell told through the layering of art forms. http://www.tempo.co.nz/ 

Hawkes Bay Arts Festival
4-16 October / HAWKES BAY
A shiny new up-and-comer in the festival circuit.
The Hawkes Bay Arts Festival in its second year delivers a magnificent feast of arts and culture. It will provide the first stop for Muscle Mouth’s Triumph’s and Other Alternatives and hip-hop sensation Out of the Box, before they head south to Nelson and Dunedin respectively. Then there’s the hilarious White Face Crew, self-professed ‘clowns for adults’ returning with their award-wining show La Vie Dans Une Marionette. http://www.hbaf.co.nz/ 

Nelson Arts Festival
12-24 October / NELSON
Extravaganza of local, national and international acts.
The Nelson Arts Festival is back for its 22nd showing and there's no shortage of stunning acts. Plenty of dance, theatre, music, comedy and workshops to boot! Triumphs and Other Alternatives collides sculpture with gutsy performance to create a visceral new form of dance theatre. While The Goblin Market show is a contemporary circus re-telling, following two sisters, their temptation, sacrifice and eventual salvation. http://www.nelsonartsfestival.co.nz/ 

InterACT Disability Arts Festival
91-21 October / AUCKLAND
Celebrating the achievements of disabled people in the arts.
The InterAct Festival offers an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of disabled people in the arts and creates a pathway forward toward a thriving and vibrant future for Disability Arts in New Zealand. Touch Compass Dance Company has a long-standing involvement with the festival and will perform an excerpt from their new family show All the Way Home. Wellington based hip-hop crew, JDK Dance Crew, will return to InterACT after first performing in 2011. http://interacting.org.nz/interactfestival/ 

Springing into Festival Season

 
 
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