Inspired and inspiring new dance company takes to the stage

The Language of Living
The New Zealand Dance Company
Set design: Sue Gallagher
Costume design: Andreas Mikellis
Lighting design: Matthew Marshall
Visuals: Theo Gibson, Shona McCullagh, Macoto Murayama
ASB Theatre, Aotea Centre
August 10th

A new force in contemporary dance erupted on the stage of the Aotea Centre last Friday night with the first production by The New Zealand Dance Company.

The new company will add to the depth and energy of dance in New Zealand presenting work alongside groups such as Black Grace, Mau and Atamira.

The work had a strong multi media focus with remarkable lighting, audio visual and graphic design as well as text and spoken word accompanying the dance.

The opening work “Evolve” featured solo dancer Ursula Robb who choreographed the work with Shona McCullagh.

Dwarfing the dancer were huge computer generated images which referred to living and fossil images which were linked to a soundscape of birds, animals, rain and tempest

Robb created a figure which was at timers cocooned , tangible and delicate while at other times she became animated with sharp angular movements, her arms like semaphore flags, sending frantic messages.

The second work “Tenerezza”, choreographed by Michael Parmenter, Craig Barry and Justin Haiu was danced by Barry and Haiu to a CPE Bach Sonata played on stage by David Guerin.

The dancers appeared to be commanded by the music and just as the music conformed to certain principles so too did the dancers.

Much of the dancing as well as the music was around notions of action and reaction - statements, elaborations and resolutions. The dancers often had a mechanistic approach as though following certain paths and trajectories but interrupted with the bodies captured in freeze frame projections. Time also played a key elemenst in the work with frequent disruptions as the fluid movements.

In “Trees Birds Then People” choreographed by Shona McCullagh the dancers created a ne world of avian life with their anthropomorphic posturing and dancing giving an intense physicality to the work. They developed a form of sign language which provides and a strong narrative and included a refreshing comic element.

Much of the work was danced to music by Gareth Farr played on stage by the NZ Trio with the energy and dynamism of the players becoming an extension of the dancers.

Owing much to Michael Jackson, Commedia del Arte and silent film, “Release Your Robot” choreographed by Justin Haiu, the sole performer was an electrifying meeting of street and contemporary dance.

Haiu created a dreamlike dance which morphed into a vision of disco heaven.

The major work on the programme was “Human Human God” choreographed by Sarah Foster-Sproull which was billed as an exploration of how we perceive Gen Y’s notions of God and spirituality. It was operatic in scope with text (Sarah Foster-Sproull and Andrew Foster) and music (Eden Mulholland) reminiscent of Philip Glass.

The animated dancing was animated, helped by the dramatic lighting and the massed groups of dancers in the style used by the French choreographer, Maguy Marin's iconic work May B.

The piece was full of inventive and evocative sequences with marvelous sculptural tableaux with a small group of dancers using their bodies to create shapes and patterns which expressed personal and collective turmoil.

The work attempted to address personal, physical, psychological and social aspects of day to day living in relation to the spiritual but there did not seem to be a significant structure or narrative to give total cohesion to the work.

The five pieces showed that all the dancers had high levels of technical skill and the ability to bring sophistication and magic to their performances.