Issued by Footnote Dance
Media Release
30 May 2006
Footnote's Feats Set to Tickle Your Fancy!
Footnote Dance’s thrilling new programme of contemporary dance works - collectively entitled Feats of Fancy – looks set
to “tickle the fancy” of dance-lovers from north to south this winter. Five of New Zealand’s most exciting contemporary
dance choreographers have created works especially for Footnote Dance. The result is an eclectic array of dance works
that are quirky, melancholy, high energy, and spiritually evocative. Feats of Fancy tours to Auckland, Wellington and
Christchurch in June-July.
Choreographers Moss Patterson, Malia Johnson, Deirdre Tarrant, Raewyn Hill and leading expatriate New Zealand
choreographer Jeremy Nelson have each created their own “feat of fancy” in the show’s line-up. Footnote dancers – Halina
Wolyncewicz, Hannah Stannard, Anita Hunziker, Sarah Knox, Lance Riley and Andrew Rusk – have the feat of performing
them!
“Imagination, ideas, identity, illusions and impact make up this compelling programme of works,” says Footnote’s
Artistic Director, Deirdre Tarrant. “These works are all feats of fancy both in themselves and collectively. They show
rich diversity in contemporary dance choreography - offering both light-hearted, humourous moments, alongside deeper,
more abstract ideas that are explored and communicated through the sensual medium of dance.”
“We have a wonderfully strong team of full-time professional contemporary dancers and we work with innovative kiwi
choreographers who continue to take contemporary dance to new heights,” says Tarrant. “Providing an environment and
infrastructure that allows this to happen is what Footnote Dance is about.”
Moss Patterson’s choreographic point of reference for his piece “Kokowai” is the reddish clay that traditionally had
many ritualistic and decorative uses for Maori.
”When combined with the human form, kokowai evokes for me images of the distant past, for example, Hineahuone – the
first woman who was fashioned from kokowai earth by Tane; images of internal heat, struggle, pain, visceral passion and
the inherent form of human energy we term ‘ihi’”,”explains Patterson.
Renowned for creating works that are both decorative in pattern and demand very high energy, “Kokowai” builds on
previous dance works that Patterson has created for Footnote Dance; a trilogy based on his Maori culture and tikanga –
“Pitau” (2003), “Te Ngaru” (2004) and “Kura” (2005).
Deirdre Tarrant’s upbeat, vigourous dance work, “Cutting the Mustard” examines dialogue around subjectivity, asking the
questions - ‘Who approves?’ and ‘What is excellence?’ binding up these conundrums in a display of sheer athleticism and
drawing links to those in our society who we see as ‘making it’.
Malia Johnston “Working Title [Left]” takes a different turn from some of her more recent choreographic work for World
of WearableArt. Dubbed “a working movement study in parts”, “Working Title [Left]”experiments with the concepts of
active versus passive skin, touch, resistance and physicality, performed to an original composition by Eden Mulholland
of rock/indie bands Motocade and Motel Fabulous.
New York-based expatriate kiwi choreographer Jeremy Nelson has led Footnote Choreolab on two occasions, and this year
stayed on to work with the company to develop a commissioned work for Feats of Fancy. Nelson revisited material shows as
a work-in-progress by Footnote during the company’s Home is Where the Heart Is season last year. “Mursh Mellow” explored
ideas about fitting into and revisiting, past environments, and this year Nelson used this as a springboard to create an
entirely new work. Light and sassy, “Remellowed” incorporates the individuality of each Footnote dancer, drawing out
their strengths through the choreography.
Following its success in the recent Footnote Forte Season, Raewyn Hill’s popular “In Time of Flight” makes a welcome
return to the stage. Inspired by poet Pablo Neruda’s “To Sadness / II”, the piece looks at the relationships between
bodies and the movement that creates a dynamic. However, as Hill points out; “In Time of Flight” is a pure movement
piece possessing no meaning or message. Danced to a hypnotic original composition by Nic McGowan, “In Time of Flight” is
dramatic and mesmerisingly powerful.
Feats of Fancy is at: Herald Theatre, Auckland on 26 and 27 June; The James Hay Theatre, Christchurch, on 29 June; and
The Opera House, Wellington on 1 July.
ENDS