Dance Company Presents an Excerpt of Rotunda

The New Zealand Dance Company Present an Excerpt of Their WW1 Centenary Creation Rotunda

AUGUST 24, DUNEDIN ART GALLERY

What is courage?

Following The New Zealand Dance Company’s triumphant return from the 2014 Holland Dance Festival and inaugural National Tour with their repertory programme Language of Living, the company will be appearing at the Dunedin Art Gallery, performing an excerpt of their exciting full-length production ROTUNDA which will be touring nationally in early 2015.

ROTUNDA is The New Zealand Dance Company’s first full-length work directed by Artistic Director Shona McCullagh and created in collaboration with celebrated singer, songwriter and composer Don McGlashan as Musical Director. In early April 2015, ROTUNDA will perform at The Regent Theatre in Dunedin as part of the company’s 2015 National Tour. This excerpt performance at the Dunedin Art Gallery provides Dunedinites with the opportunity to grab a sneak peek at the coming production.

Exquisitely unique in its presentation, the world of ROTUNDA brings eight dancers and twenty-five brass band players together on the eve of change and crisis. It questions what is courage, and brings to life the world of the band rotunda, an iconic symbol of NZ community. The Dunedin Art Gallery event will feature two New Zealand Dance Company dancers, Justin Haiu and Tupua Tigafua, with two local St Kilda Brass musicians, Harry Smith on Euphonium and Trevor Kempton on Eb bass. Artistic Director Shona McCullagh will also be in attendance to discuss the piece and the creative process in a talk back after the excerpt performance. The performance will be hosted in the gallery currently housing the Laurence Aberhart exhibit, a major exhibition of World War One memorials.

“The creation of ROTUNDA is timed to coincide with the 2014 – 2018 ANZAC Centenary; marking 100 years since New Zealand’s involvement in the First World War and commemorating those who have fought and served in all wars, conflicts and peace operations over this time. We wanted to honour the themes of loyalty, courage, loss and hope with a contemporary work that will touch a wide audience.

The collision of powerful live brass with the beauty and strength of the dancers creates a potent space for creating new connections to dance” says Artistic Director, Shona McCullagh.

“There is something in the voice of the brass band that carries the emotional weight of a community’s joys and sorrows. Hope, aspiration, and loss are things that bind us together as a nation, but which we often find so difficult to express. The social landscape within the Rotunda, as an increasingly lonely
ornamental focal point, has both flourished and declined. Our honest expression of untold stories revitalise this space and makes the Rotunda alive again” says McCullagh.

Featuring the powerful collision of a live brass band with the raw beauty of contemporary dance, ROTUNDA brings to life a haunting and luminescent snapshot of New Zealand’s history during World War The New Zealand Dance Advancement Trust is a Charitable Trust, CC46612

The April 2015 performance will be The New Zealand Dance Company’s debut one night only performance in Dunedin.

For early booking discounts, register at www.nzdc.org.nz

Excerpt of ROTUNDA

Dunedin Art Gallery

August 24, 2014, 3pm

Regent Theatre Performance Schedule of Rotunda

Wednesday 1st April 7.30pm

ends

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