I applaud the passion and commitment of this new Dunedin based dance collective.

They successfully present six pieces which could have felt like a recital of works but with thoughtful transitions they deliver a cohesive show that moves fluidly from beginning to end.

The intimacy of NASDA studio suits the nature of this work and from the moment the audience steps into the venue we are part of it.

The company is made up of a large group of dancers of varying levels of experience. Hahna Briggs and Miriam Marler are stand out artists in both their choreography and dancing. Their level of training is very clear in the concepts and development of their works, and both articulate their bodies with an assurance that is interesting and easy to watch.

The first work of the night by Hahna Briggs explores stylised gesture that cleverly sets up a movement dialogue that is developed further in her second work of the night. She effectively uses two bodies as a wall to dance against, giving an interesting perspective to relationships between dancer and space. 

In her second part of From Conversation, Briggs introduces the use of voice, delivered with ease and creating a theatrical layer to the work. All performers are engaging and I feel the work celebrates the strengths of each individual.

Grounded by Nicole Wilkie is a work that has potential but needs more development. The execution by the dancers highlight the varying levels of technique and while I find the landings heavy and movements cut short, there is something endearing about the rawness of the work and you certainly couldn’t question their passion or performance personae.

Our Place by Kate Sullivan introduces film with live dance. Maybe because of where I was sitting I sometimes find it hard to watch both Kate and the film.  The film is well crafted and Kate performs with sensitivity to both the audience and the film.  Kate has a strong presence on stage.

Soliloquy by Miriam Marler is a sophisticated work. Clever use of lighting and space helps create an intimate relationship with the audience. I am drawn into the work firstly by Miriam’s  self-assuredness as she makes eye contact with the audience,  then by her quality of movement.

Honey, Gold, Iron by Lizzie Hewitt is a great way to end the night. It is a quirky and entertaining work that is performed with integrity by dancers Miriam and Kate.  We are taken on a journey and the use of props, costumes and theatrics gives this work a deeper layer that takes us past light entertainment into the slightly absurd, in a good way.

The vast amount of support around this collective is evident. The general sense I have from these artists is one of enthusiasm and commitment to making work.  I look forward to seeing what’s next.

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What a show! Cut.Paste.Collaborate., performed to a capacity audience was great, start to finish. The seven choreographies by Gasp! Dance Collective, were each very distinctive while remaining relevant to each other both through the theme of “connection and disconnection” and through a common vocabulary of movement, rich in symbolism and empathy.

Gestures and motifs of breath and support ran and intertwined through each dance and the dancers’ care for each other was evident in their effortless and generous performance.

The opening music for Grounded was pungent and bold, drawing the first group of dancers – Rowan Stanley, Victoria Bernard, Laura Hight and Nicole Wilkie (who also choreographed) – with its heavy bass line from their almost amoebic movements on the floor into a gorgeous dance, crisp and expressive. The lighting changes were clever and unusual – the lurid green sequence appealed to me particularly as it made them look as though they had swallowed highlighters, or perhaps as though they were a holographic after-image on an old TV screen, or, my favourite, the prisms you see when you look from the corner of your eye at the bevelled edge of a mirror in the sun. They performed as parts of the whole and it really was stunning.

Mother-Maiden-Kuia, choreographed and performed by Aliza Yair, a dancer I’ve seen before and I remembered that I had loved to watch her then as well. Her movement was expressive without being literal, graceful without being contrived and, at the end, her waka paddling and rocking of an infant brought to mind our need as a species for the room to be curious, to explore and for the security and stability our land gives us.

Still Here, a meditation in work boots and high vis on the reality of continued life in Christchurch to the soundscape of squelchy mud, has a very different feel to the previous two, a welcome change of pace but still thoughtful and well executed by choreographers/dancers Celine Cattoen-Gilbert and Kate Sullivan and dancer Jessica Young.

As the youngest of many sisters and product of many generations of women, I felt an instant connection of my own with Women before Me, but I wondered if choreographer and dancer Miriam Marler intended me to feel a sense of burden imposed by her forebears on her path through life and into the history of her womenfolk. It was lovely to watch but I felt a little sorrowful at the end, and I’m not sure if that was the desired response.

During the brief intermission, we watched the stage being set for The Strings That Pull by Anna Noonan, with plants and grasses arranged at the back and three dancers with five strings each tied to their arms extending into the wings. I was intrigued and as each dancer came onto the stage with her bindings drawn tightly behind her, I was anticipating an intricate and geometric series of movement but it just didn’t last long enough. It felt like the beginning of a brilliant and adventurous idea that wasn’t given quite enough time to come to fruition – I look forward to seeing the evolution of this piece and hope that I have the opportunity to do so.

Jodie Bate danced an exquisite portrayal of the stages of grief in an adaptation of a CS Lewis quote “The death of a beloved is an amputation”. Amputation of Personality was poignant and found its way into humour as well, as anyone has experienced loss will understand grief must do if we are to manage it.

From Conversation was another clever interpretation of human communication by Hahna Briggs. I enjoy the way she sees into the emotions and experiences that inform the way we carry out conversation and interaction. Her use of interview and conversation to develop a choreography provides a limitless canvas for her empathy and innovation.

A dance collective provides an ingenious method of collating a diverse experience and practices into a cohesive and appealing show. Cut.Paste.Collaborate. was the best I’ve seen of the Fringe Festival yet and I can’t wait for what’s coming next from this group of very clever women and their dancers!

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