Empress Stilt Dance under the direction of Emily Buttle continues to forge new directions; in this instance the debut of Kahuku at the Festival of Elements in Porirua on Waitangi day. This 15-minute piece (still in development) explores the interface between stilts, aerials, stilt acrobatics and dance. Buttle, who has directed, designed and produced the work, is really a ‘joy merchant’ specializing in awesome costumes, whimsical beauty and delight. Kahuka delivers all of these elements in good measure.

To a commissioned electronic soundscape by Leyton, Pippa Ayesha gives a compelling performance as the central monarch butterfly with precise muscular control and nuanced expression as she is brought to life and re-winged by Aaron Burr, who plays a taut caterpillar. Moving with great skill, he also is an accomplished and expressive acrobat.

Their romance flourishes through some spectacular partnering: Ayesha on stilts and Burr on the ground then into exquisitely beautiful aerial work ably assisted by Rhys Latton; his ‘spin man’ role in the mechanics of the images begs to be developed into a fully fledged character that helps to propel the narrative.

I caught the last performance of the day (there had been one on the hour over 4 hours) amidst adults and children forming a circle around the performance space in the giant arena. All ages were transfixed by the performance as it built to a beautiful climax of enormous scale with three more butterflies entering as the space whirled with colour and magic.

The artistry in Buttle’s costumes is exquisite and she and her cast deserve congratulations for creating this magic with limited resources and time.

It was the perfect end to my Waitangi Day, watching the koru patterns on gossamer wings flutter as wonderful performers negotiated, with ease, the space between the ground, tall stilts and the air, through which they ‘flew’ to capture the essence and fragility of a Kahuka.
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