Soapbox Productions present NIGHT
Soapbox Productions announces the premiere of new DanceTheatre work
10 July - 12 July 2003. 7.30pm
Te Whaea Theatre, Wellington
NIGHT, presented by Soapbox Productions
Soapbox Productions, led by acclaimed New Zealand dancer and choreographer, Raewyn Hill, will premiere NIGHT, a major
new contemporary dance-theatre work, July 10 at Te Whaea Theatre, Wellington.
NIGHT is the companion work to Raewyn's most recent show WHITE, the highly acclaimed show that performed to sell-out
audiences in Wellington last year. Together WHITE & NIGHT sit as complementary shows able to tour separately or be themed as a double-bill dance programme.
NIGHT is a trio for three dancers and is an ethereal 60 minute journey exploring different stories of the night, some
secrets of the night and rituals associated saying goodbye to the day. NIGHT features the dynamic of two men and one
woman onstage, whereas WHITE features an all female trio. Together the two shows explore and push the boundaries of
physicality, of explorations into dreams, the night and our childhood secrets.
For NIGHT Raewyn is joined onstage by New Zealander Paora Taurima and internationally acclaimed dancer Craig Bary.
Together they make an outstanding trio of dancers and perform powerfully physical duets and trios integrated with
delicate solos, spoken text and song.
NIGHT also features the work of many of the same artists that made WHITE such a success last year. The music is a new
commission by Nic McGowan. This is the sixth collaboration between McGowan and Hill.
NIGHT features dramaturgy by Duncan Sarkies and a new light design by Jo Kilgour, fresh from the Indian Ink production
of The Pickle King.
Soapbox Productions premiered WHITE last year in Wellington to sell-out audiences and much critical acclaim. The company
has since secured a tour of WHITE to the Christchurch Arts Festival in July, then a two-week season at Downstage
Theatre, Wellington, in September. It is expected that NIGHT will be just as highly acclaimed and follow the successful
touring model created by WHITE.
NIGHT
Presented by Soapbox Productions
Te Whaea Theatre, July 10 - 12, 2003. All performances at 7.30pm.
Bookings at Ticketek. Phone 04 384 3840
For further media information and images contact Melanie Hamilton
E: mel@soapboxproductions.co.nz M: 021 1124 105
"Raewyn Hill is without doubt New Zealand's most exciting female contemporary dancer. That she is also an impressive
choreographer is a bonus and is so rare we must celebrate not only her talent but her decision to remain and share her
talents with the New Zealand Arts Community". The Press, December 2001.
Raewyn Hill
Artistic Director : Soapbox Productions
Born in 1972, Oamaru, New Zealand, Raewyn grew up in Christchurch and left home after being accepted into the New
Zealand School of dance at the age of 15 years.
She graduated from the New Zealand School of Dance in 1993 with the Best All Round Student Award. She has since been
contracted by New Zealand's leading companies and choreographers. These have included: the Royal New Zealand Ballet
Company for the national tour of 'Giselle'; Douglas Wright Dance Company for Buried Venus and A Retrospective; Sue
Healey and Dancers for the Downstage season of W. Sonata; Michael Parmenter for Bhakti and Jerusalem; Shona McCullagh's
Human Garden for Quick and Mad Angels; and Company Blue Vault for their Wellington season of Fidget. Raewyn's
performances have earned her reviews which name her one of New Zealand's most outstanding dancers. In 1999 she was
invited by Garry Stewart, Director Au
Alongside her theatre work Raewyn has also appeared in episodes of Xena the Warrior Princess and was cast in the 2002
BBC's two-part drama series The Lost World. She is also a regular guest tutor with New Zealand School of Dance and
Unitec Performing Arts School teaching Contemporary Dance Technique/Composition and Improvisation courses.
Raewyn seeks further artistic fulfilment by creating her own work. She has built a reputation for creating passionate
and highly physical works which have been performed extensively throughout New Zealand. Her choreography is now also
performed by other dance companies and dance schools. FAUXBIDDEN was performed by the students at New Zealand School of
Dance in August 1999. Trio#2 premiered with Footnote Dance Company in 2001, Trio#3 was created for their 2002
repertoire. Raewyn created In Time of Flight for Footnote's 2003 repertoire. Ocean of Tears, a solo commissioned by the
Royal New Zealand Ballet, toured nationally in early 2001. For the 2002 third year graduation class at Unitec Raewyn
choreographed Solo for 19. This August Raewyn will choreograph a new work for the 2003 graduating students of the New
Zealand School of Dance.
Raewyn founded Soapbox Productions in 2001, under which she premiered her solo show When Love Comes Calling. This took
place at Southern Ballet Theatre, December 2001, and was created as part of her Christchurch Arts Centre Artist in
Residency Award. In July 2002 Raewyn premiered her second full-length work White at Bats Theatre, Wellington to sell-out
houses and critical acclaim.
These two works have been phenomenally well received. In October 2002, Soapbox Productions completed a 3-centre tour of
her solo work When Love Comes Calling, performing to standing ovations, sell-out houses and rave reviews. The show went
to Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin as part of the Otago Festival of the Arts. White will travel to the 2003
Christchurch Arts Festival then will be performed at Downstage Theatre for a two-week season in September.
Raewyn acknowledges the benefits of travelling and experiencing dance overseas. After graduating from the New Zealand
School of Dance she studied with the Sydney Dance Company for 5 months, with assistance from the Dorothy Daniels
Scholarship. In 1996 The Excellence in Art Award from Trustbank Canterbury enabled her to experience and study dance in
Europe. Her outstanding talent was rewarded with a professional development grant from Creative New Zealand in 2000 to
study in New York. In June 2002 Raewyn was one of 10 New Zealanders named an AMP Scholar and in October 2002 she was
awarded the Tup Lang Scholarship from Creative New Zealand. She recently received a 2002 Distinguished Graduate Award
from the New Zealand School of Dance.
Craig Bary ~ Dancer in NIGHT
Born in Palmerston North in 1977, Craig graduated from the New Zealand School of Dance in 1998 with a Diploma in Dance
Performance. Craig has performed for such companies and choreographers as, The Royal New Zealand Ballet, Footnote Dance
Company, Hairy Maclary Theatre Productions, Michael Parmenter's Commotion Company, Douglas Wright Dance Company, Garry
Stewart's 'Thwack' dance company and two years with the Australian Dance Theatre.
Craig joined TasDance last year where he is a resident dancer and teacher for the company, where he was noted in the
2003 January- February issue of Dance Australia's Critics Survey, as Most Outstanding Dancer.
Craig has also choreographed two short works 'Incarnate' and 'Tetrad', the latter receiving most promising choreography
by the December 2000 issue of Dance Australia's Critics Survey as well.
Paora Taurima~ Dancer in NIGHT
Paora Taurima is from Wellington and graduated from Whitireia Performing Arts in Porirua in 1999 before training at
Unitec School of Performing and Screen Arts for two years. In his second year there Paora performed with Mary Jane
O'Reilly's Limbs Retrospective. In 2002 Paora worked for Deirdre Tarrant as part of Footnote Dance. Paora was most
recently seen onstage in Auckland in Ann Dewey's 'Queen Camel'.
Sarah Sproull ~ Rehearsal Director for NIGHT
Sarah graduated from the New Zealand School of Dance in 1997. Since then she has been working with several independent
choreographers in Auckland and Wellington, including Lyne Pringle, Paul Jenden, Strident Productions, Kristian Larsen,
Guy Ryan, Touch Compass Dance Company and Footnote Dance. Sarah is a prizewinner from the Mainland Art Awards 2000.
Sarah danced in the original 2002 season of WHITE and will join Raewyn for the Christchurch Arts Festival and Downstages
seasons of WHITE in 2003.