By Rain Francis.

Douglas Wright returned recently from The Netherlands. His company performed the acclaimed work Rapt at Lucent Danstheatre in Holland’s dancing capital, Den Hague. The all-star cast included Kilda Northcott, Sarah-Jayne Howard, Craig Bary, Kelly Nash, Alex Leonhartsberger, Nancy Wijohn, Dan Cooper, Will Barling and Sarah Foster. Foster said of the two-show tour: “The response was amazing; we had fantastic feedback and standing ovations. It was great to be a part of this tour and for Douglas’ work to be seen by an international audience.” Rapt was originally co-produced by Creative New Zealand and The Auckland Festival in 2011.

An audition for World of Wearable Arts is being held on May 26 at the Wellington Opera House for male and female dancers between the ages of 18 and 35 years old with significant professional experience. The contract for WOW runs from September 1 to October 6, 2013 in Wellington. You can register your interest by emailing your details to cast@worldofwearableart.com.

Dancers Lauren Carr & Isabelle Nelson of Java Dance Company. Photo by Tom Hoyle.

The Alana Haines Australasian Awards took place over Easter at the St. James Theatre in Wellington. The event commemorates a promising 11-year-old Wellington dancer who was tragically killed on Christmas Eve 1989. It has grown to be the most prestigious in Australasia and is highly respected throughout the world.

Scholarships allocated to finalists for this year’s event included elite international companies and schools in Hong Kong, France, London and the USA. The Junior Winner was 13-year-old Harrison Lee from McDonald College in Sydney. The Supreme Winner of Group A was Bethany Cockburn, a 15-year-old student of Prudence Bowen in Queensland. The Supreme Winner of Group B was 18-year-old New Zealand School of Dance student Tynan Wood from New South Wales.

The Royal New Zealand Ballet has recently returned home from a successful tour of China where they performed their new production of Giselle. New Zealand audiences will be able to share some of the RNZB’s China experiences, onstage and behind the scenes, later this year. The production team from TV3’s The Secret Lives of Dancers were travelling with the company.

Students of New Zealand School of Dance. Photo by Stephen A’Court

The New Zealand School of Dance Choreographic Season titled And Then it Moved introduces 10 new choreographers who are bringing contemporary dance premieres to the stage. Created by contemporary dance students in their third year of full-time study at the NZSD, And Then it Moved is the result of four intensive months of preparation. In addition to workshopping new dance pieces, the group of young choreographers have collaborated with professional musicians and technical students from Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School to make the show. And Then it Moved takes place in Wellington from May 20-25. For bookings, visit www.nzschoolofdance.ac.nz.

Java Dance Company recently performed a two-week season of Down Beneath Below for the Capital E National Arts Festival. Nearly 4,000 4 to 14-year-olds responded vigorously to the show, which stars two penguins, a sea lion and an albatross. Down Beneath Below was performed by a cast of half Australian (Lauren Carr and Sam Wang) and half Kiwi (Isabelle Nelson and Michael Gudgeon) dancers.

Photo (top): Douglas Wright’s Rapt. Photo by John Savage.

Creative New Zealand is calling for applications from established New Zealand choreographers for the $65,000 Creative New Zealand Choreographic Fellowship. The fellowship provides the time and/or resources for the Fellow to commit to a period of investigation, experimentation or research in their practice.  It will be awarded for a project and/or programme of activity and is open to choreographers who have already produced a significant body of work.

Previous recipients of this fellowship are: Shona McCullagh (2004), Douglas Wright (2005), Michael Parmenter (2006), Lemi Ponifasio (2008), Daniel Belton (2009) and Catherine Chappell (2011). Applications close at 5pm on Friday, March 15, 2013. For more information on how to apply for the fellowship, go to www.creativenz.govt.nz.

Tempo is New Zealand’s biggest dance festival, and this year it takes place from 9 – 20 October, so put the dates in your diary! Tempo 2013 takes place at Q Theatre, Queen Street in Auckland. To put in an Expression of Interest for a dance work in Tempo 2013, email celia@tempo.co.nz for a form.

Pacific contemporary dance company Black Grace is in the midst of their 5-week North American tour. From February 19, the extensive five-and-a-half week tour is seeing Vaka journey to the U.S. and Canada, specifically to venues in Portland, Seattle, Massachusetts, Pittsburgh, Virginia, Vancouver, Victoria, Minnesota and California, with 21 performances in total.

Vaka marks Black Grace’s fifth tour of the U.S. since 2004; they are the only NZ dance company to consistently tour to the States. The company has trail-blazed New Zealand dance across the US and was the first dance company to perform at the prestigious Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in 2004/05, and at the Cervantino International Arts Festival in Leon, Mexico.

Black Grace’s movements in New Zealand through 2013 include four festival performances – at the Festival of Colour in Wanaka and Queenstown, and the Southland Festival of the Arts in Invercargill, both in April, followed by the Taranaki International Arts Festival in August and then the Christchurch Arts Festival in September. The company will also be working with a select group of Southland’s young people as part of their Invercargill performance.

Footnote Dance presents Footnote Forte 2013 – We have been there (Cloud In Hand) - a newly commissioned work by Lisa Densem. “This particular homecoming has been some years in the planning, and it is wonderful to bring Lisa home. She is a very special New Zealander and has made her name so far away,” says Director Deirdre Tarrant.

Footnote travelled to work with Densem in October 2012 at the Ufer Studios in Berlin. The new work opens in Wellington this month and will tour through to the end of April. The music is by Wellington composer Andrew Thomas. An ex-Footnote dancer, Densem has worked extensively with Sasha Waltz & Guests, one of Germany’s most successful companies, touring the globe with up to 80 performances a year. Her new work for Footnote is choreography of discovery. Densem is using techniques that explore the body in context with the surrounding space and searching for moments that emerge from this exploration.

Photo: Footnote Dance, We have been there (Cloud In Hand)

By Rain Francis.

Pre-eminent choreographer and award-winning writer Douglas Wright’s work rapt is set to be performed in The Hague at the prestigious Lucent Danstheater next April. Douglas Wright Dance is initiating a fundraising drive to raise $35k NZD to realise the project.

The invitation has come from one of the world’s largest dance festivals, Holland Dance in conjunction with Lucent Danstheater, home to the world famous Nederlands Dans Theater. It is unique for a New Zealand company to achieve the chance to perform on this prominent dance stage.

The New Zealand Dance Company's 'Language of Living' at the ASB Theatre, Aotea Centre, Auckland. Photo to John McDermott

The project has received major funding support from Creative New Zealand, however the challenging economic environment and significant size and scale of rapt means that the total cost of the rehearsal period and tour cannot be covered by performance fees and Creative New Zealand funding alone.

People can donate from as little as $10 by visiting www.pozible.com/rapt.  A number of donation tiers with acknowledgement benefits have been created as a means to say thank you to supporters. These include personally signed Douglas Wright books as well as an opportunity to attend a rehearsal of rapt in Auckland before the company departs for Holland.

The world premiere performances of the recently established Auckland based contemporary company, The New Zealand Dance Company met with rave reviews from five different publications.

The programme featured works by Justin Haiu, Michael Parmenter, Sarah Foster Sproull and Executive Artistic Director Shona McCullagh. The company doubled their audience targets at their launch in the ASB Theatre, Aotea Centre.

Rise by Java Dance Company

After 25 years at the helm of Footnote Dance Company, Deirdre Tarrant announced earlier this year that she was retiring from the post. It has recently been announced that Malia Johnston will assume directorship in 2013. An award-winning choreographer, Malia is also currently Artistic Director of the Brancott Estate World of Wearable Arts Awards Show (WOW). She also runs Rifleman Productions and is a regular guest tutor of choreography and technique at both New Zealand School of Dance and Unitec.

Java Dance Company is continuing to have a great year. Out of 923 shows at the Adelaide Fringe Festival, Java’s Back of the Bus was ranked 5^th best. They’ll be back in Australia next month when they bring the show to Perth, for the Awesome International Arts Festival for Bright Young Things.

Java has also recently been commissioned to make a new show for 3-14 year olds for the Capital E International Arts Festival in Wellington.

New Zealand School of Dance third year students, due to graduate in November, are already receiving company contracts and offers for next year.

New Zealand School of Dance students Cauê Frias and Christopher Gerty. Photo by Stephen A’Court

Contemporary students Samantha Hines and Matt Roffe will join Australian Dance Theatre on full-time contracts, dancing alongside 2011 NZSD graduate Zoe Dunwoodie, who is already with the company. Their classmate James Pham has taken up a position with Chunky Move. He will perform in the company’s upcoming season at the Melbourne International Arts Festival.

Classical student Cauê Frias has been offered a place with Houston Ballet II and Christopher Gerty with San Francisco Ballet School’s Trainee Program. Cauê is performing in Stanton Welch’s September production of Madame Butterfly for Houston Ballet.

Top photo: New Zealand School of Dance students Matte Roffe, Samantha Hines and Simone Lapka, photographed by Stephen A’Court

By Rain Francis.

Across the Tasman, a dedicated team of artists has been working tirelessly to create a new dance company, The New Zealand Dance Company, to be exact.

Heading the charge is Shona McCullagh, who has been an integral part of the New Zealand dance scene for many years. A graduate of the New Zealand School of Dance and a former member of Limbs Dance Company, she became a New Zealand Arts Foundation Laureate in 2002, and received a Senior Choreographic Fellowship from Creative New Zealand in 2007. Besides her many creations for various distinguished dance companies, she has made work for theatre, television and film, as well as for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

Now Executive/Artistic Director of the New Zealand Dance Company, McCullagh, along with General Manager Frances Turner, has relished the seemingly mountainous self-imposed challenge. And with the official media launch of the new Company taking place recently, the summit is in sight.

Founding Artistic Director Shona McCullagh. Photo by John McDermott

McCullagh notes that although the dance landscape in New Zealand “has always been rich, [it has been] operating in a predominantly project-to-project based paradigm for a long time.” This means of course, that most of the highly skilled and creative talent being produced in New Zealand every year is being forced to fly the coop.

The truth is that since the demise of Limbs in 1989, there have been no full-time contracts available to contemporary dancers in New Zealand. Remedying that is the Company’s ultimate aim – an aim McCullagh says it will take about three years to reach. She envisions for the Company “a beautiful home in Auckland [with] a core of eight full-time dancers and a dynamic infrastructure.”

Despite the “relentless nature” of the huge task they have undertaken, McCullagh and Turner have met with massive support from many arts and business individuals, companies and communities. Creative New Zealand is the core funder of the new venture, and Westpac has come on board for an initial three year contract. Leading performing arts venue The Edge has been one of the Company’s “most significant supporters”. McCullagh also credits Designworks for the crucial task of brand development, Auckland City for additional funding, and Dance Aotearoa New Zealand (DANZ) for mentoring support.

The New Zealand Dance Company will officially leap into the spotlight in August, with its inaugural season at the ASB Theatre at The Edge in Auckland. Titled Language of Living, the programme will comprise five works commissioned specifically for this debut appearance. The choreographers on the bill include New Zealand icon Michael Parmenter alongside Justin Haiu, Sarah Foster-Sproull and McCullagh herself.

With the season encompassing the idea that dance is “the most beautifully truthful language of living,” McCullagh describes the programme as a mix of “earthy, funny, brave and beautiful.”

NZ Dance Company Dancer Sarah Foster-Sproull

“One of the works is a solo created for one of our global super-stars Ursula Robb, who has returned to NZ from a stellar career in Europe,” the Artistic Director explains. “Justin Haiu, of So You Think You Can Dance fame, has created a great solo with live music by South Auckland group The Electric Boutique, and the other works on the programme are group pieces with fantastic music, a stunning set, new technology and contemporary costume. Deliciously compelling!”

Following auditions last year, McCullagh has assembled a company of artists she calls “absolute individuals; funny, feisty, mysterious and astonishing.” These founding members of the New Zealand Dance Company are Robb, Haiu and Foster-Sproull, along with Craig Bary, Alex Leonhartsberger, Tupua Tigafua, Hannah Tasker-Poland and apprentice dancer, Lucy Lynch.

She adds proudly that all dancers and choreographers are born-and-bred Kiwis (with the exception of Leonhartsberger – who has lived in New Zealand for several years).

“We produce magnificent dancers here and have exciting choreographic talent,” McCullagh explains. “We need to be offering choreographers the opportunity to develop their craft in a more stable environment and beautiful dancers the chance to have a full-time profession.”

Another exciting initiative of the New Zealand Dance Company is the Youth Engagement Programme (YEP), which provides workshop and performance opportunities to young dance enthusiasts. This programme is part of the Company’s overall aim, which involves removing the “barriers and complexity” surrounding contemporary dance, to change the way New Zealanders see and experience the artform.

“The New Zealand Dance Company is a safe place for artists and audiences to be brave,” says McCullagh, “in essence creating a new connection to what dance is and can be.”

Language of Living opens on August 10 at the ASB Theatre, Aotea Centre, Auckland.
For more information, go to www.the-edge.co.nz/Event-Pages/L/Language-of-Living.aspx

Top photo: New Zealand Dance Company dancer Hannah Tasker-Poland