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St James Theatre Wellington 30 April 2025 Conductor: Hamish McKeich, Orchestra Wellington Reviewed by Brigitte Knight The Royal New Zealand Ballet’s double bill of The Firebird with My Brilliant Career presents two one-act narrative contemporary ballets, both innovative and thoughtful, yet refreshingly contrasting in style. Braving a... Keep Reading
Concluding their three-centre tour in the capital, a collaboration between the New Zealand Dance Company, New Zealand String Quartet, and Chamber Music New Zealand presents 100 Winds Taupō Hau Rau to a capacity audience at Te Papa's Soundings Theatre. Set to the minimalist music of American composers Philip Glass and Steve Reich, the... Keep Reading
Unusually for a dance performance there is a long queue to a bag check before the general audience can enter the Auckland Town Hall for Black Grace’s;This is Not a Retrospective (VIPs and patrons are ushered through without queueing and guided to preferential seating in the venue’s balcony). Keep Reading
Fifty years ago when Scottish Ballet last performed in New Zealand it was billed as the farewell tour of Dame Margot Fonteyn. To partner her in the Romeo and Juliet pas de deux was Valery Panov, a Russian Jewish refusenik. I attended that packed performance at the Wellington Opera House, was deeply moved to see Dame Margot, and overjoyed at... Keep Reading
In 2025 Footnote New Zealand Dance celebrates their milestone 40th year, opening with Jeremy Beck’s Modern God; a dance theatre work 3 years in the making. Closing night in Wellington sees the company play to a packed Te Whaea theatre, where space is maximised with wings flown out and white tarkett reflecting the light. Director and... Keep Reading
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... Keep Reading
Opening night for the 34th World of WearableArt’s awards show Dream Awake sees the Wellington waterfront awash with purple light, invigorated by a handful of beautifully costumed performers, photographers offering audience participation, and a full house filing into the TSB Bank Arena. From the arrival at the venue, through the transition... Keep Reading
Whakataukī are an important feature of Māori culture, using symbolism and metaphor to convey key messages. Atamira’s purposeful choice of the well-known whakataukī, Kia whakatōmuri te haere whakamua, invites the audience to celebrate and access the cultural significance of this knowledge – KA MUA KA MURI. Keep Reading
The Royal New Zealand Ballet’s 2024 winter season Solace presents a triple bill of abstract contemporary ballets by three celebrated and engaging modern choreographers. Infra by recently knighted, award winning British choreographer Sir Wayne McGregor, To Hold by Auckland based Royal New Zealand Ballet Choreographer in Residence Sarah Foster... Keep Reading
The inaugural Pōneke Festival of Contemporary Dance presents Homemade Jam, an inspiring triple bill by the project-based BalletCollective Aotearoa, featuring dance students from Tawa College and offering three innovative and well synthesised works, each approximately 20 minutes long. Keep Reading
The New Zealand School of Dance presents Liminal; eight works choreographed and performed by the eight third year contemporary stream students, curated into a cohesive 60 minute production overseen by choreographic mentor Holly Newsome. Presented unconventionally in the round, the student choreographer/dancers manage and manipulate spatial and... Keep Reading
It is often said that ballet is a hand-me-down art; you cannot learn it from a textbook or a YouTube tutorial, it must be passed on from teacher to student, from choreographer to dancer. Swan Lake, so beloved that it has become synonymous with the artform globally, is the jewel in the crown of classical ballet repertoire, and the dual role... Keep Reading
Premiering internationally at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and domestically at the Nelson Arts Festival in 2023, Double Goer is simultaneously a return to Foster Group’s roots (rigorous contemporary exploration in an intimate performance setting) and a directional shift with evidence of an increasingly academic and research-driven approach... Keep Reading
It is best to leave your logical mind at the door in order to fully experience the maelstrom of sensory overload that characterises the two Diptych dance-theatre works created by Belgian choreographers, Gabriela Carrizo & Franck Chartier for their company Peeping Tom. Keep Reading
Lusi Faiva’s new work Aiga created in conjunction with Touch Compass for Auckland Arts Festival is what the French so aptly call a “cri de coeur” - a cry from the heart. It is a cry that demands to be heard and one that emerges from a Pasifika cultural perspective. Keep Reading
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