DANZMythosoma – Body Island - Motu Tinana
27 February 2026
Tāwhiri Warehouse
Wellington
Ten Thousand Hours – Gravity & Other Myths
15 March 2026
The Opera House
Wellington
Reviewed by Brigitte Knight
The 2026 Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts programme included dance/movement offerings Mythosoma by Body Island – Motu Tinana, and Ten Thousand Hours by contemporary circus company Gravity & Other Myths. Following its Wellington festival shows Ten Thousand Hours also featured in the Auckland Arts Festival Te Ahurei Toi o Tāmaki.
Mythosoma – Body Island - Motu Tinana
Director & Choreographer: Kelly Nash
Performance Artists: Body Island - Motu Tinana
”Mythosoma” by Kelly Nash. Body Island - Motu Tinana. Photo: Nick George.
New dance theatre work Mythosoma by choreographer and director Kelly Nash’s collective Body Island – Motu Tinana draws on ConTact C.A.R.E therapeutic practice, somatic trauma theory, and lived experience, in an abstract work that moves between humour and deep solemnity. In the Te Whaea complex, Newtown, new festival venue Tāwhiri Warehouse is a cavernous, dark, and surprisingly wide space, providing plentiful seating but challenging proportions for dance theatre and lighting. Mythosoma is a full-length work in one act, with five performers (Nancy Wijohn, Moana Ete, Georgie Goater, Jada Narkle, Caleb Heke) each co-credited as collaborators. Nash’s direction blends voice, imagery, movement, sound, and props in a co-ordinated, non-narrative format, suggestive of intensely personal exploration and source material. Her choreography is fluid and heartfelt, with a contemporary movement vocabulary that is compelling and accessible.
”Mythosoma” by Kelly Nash. Body Island - Motu Tinana. Photo: Nick George.
Amongst a number of strong moments in Mythosoma Nash gifts each of the four dancers a superbly flattering solo which suits their physicality and movement style extremely well, and features musician/singer/performer Moana Ete’s voice and versatility throughout the work in a series of very successful monologues. Mythosoma’s overarching themes of trauma held in the body and healing modalities contain an expanse of abstract material which at times connects with the audience and resonates, and at others don’t connect so much. Nash’s choreography is particularly resonant in the bodies, stage presence, and performance styles of Nancy Wijohn and Georgie Goater, and it is captivating to appreciate the strength, maturity, and sophistication of these two dancers in such close proximity.
”Mythosoma” by Kelly Nash. Body Island - Motu Tinana. Photo: Nick George.
TEN THOUSAND HOURS – Gravity & Other Myths
Director: Lachlan Binns
Music: Nick Martyn, Shenzo Gregorio
“Ten Thousand Hours” by Lachlan Binns. Gravity & Other Myths. Photo: Nick George.
Gravity & Other Myths (GOM) is an Australian contemporary circus company made up of acrobats and musicians, currently internationally touring two of its ten shows Ten Thousand Hours and The Mirror. Ten Thousand Hours, appearing in the Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts and the Auckland Arts Festival 2026 is “…an ode to the countless hours needed to achieve great things. A tribute to the dedication required to realise our physical ambitions. An acknowledgement of the backstory that is often more spectacular than the finished product…”. A neat and well-conceptualised work of acrobatic theatre, set to an upbeat backing track greatly enhanced and energised by a talented drummer, Ten Thousand Hours begins with performers pre-set onstage warming up, an enormous digital clock illuminating the number 10,000 behind them.
“Ten Thousand Hours” by Lachlan Binns. Gravity & Other Myths. Photo: Nick George.
Costumed in athletic wear in shades of grey, the acrobats hold absolute control over the energy and focus in the Opera House; a reserved opening introducing a walking motif, gradually increased daring of acrobatic stunts, the injection of timely humour, sweetly low-key audience participation (which the children in the audience absolutely adored), breaking the fourth wall, activating the full height of the proscenium, and a number of full-noise, full-company intricately coordinated and choreographed sections that defy gravity and draw spontaneous applause from the audience throughout the show. Design elements are minimalist but fully explored, the aesthetic of the show is pleasingly consistent, the soundtrack is engaging, and the pace as the acrobats move through a series of loosely-themed sections (or scenes) is successful and thoroughly entertaining. More than once I am delighted to be reminded that nothing computer-generated can ever be as immediate, captivating, thrilling and fabulous as the brilliance of people stacked 3 high on one-another’s shoulders flying through the air. Ten Thousand Hours delivers a marvellous hour’s entertainment, superseding multi-generational audience’s different artistic tastes with risk, control, whimsy, and delight.
“Ten Thousand Hours” by Lachlan Binns. Gravity & Other Myths. Photo: Nick George.
Gallery photos by Nick George.
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