The New Zealand Dance Company’s inaugural national tour is a triumph for all concerned. It is stylish, sophisticated and of a high calibre.

The opening work, Michael Parmenter’s intriguing and innovative Tenerezza, was danced to music by CPE Bach. It explores similar territory to that of an earlier Parmenter work, Absence, performed in 2012 by Footnote Dance. The duet begins slowly with sculptural poses and strongly supported sudden, arcing lifts and builds in intensity. Dancers Craig Bary and Justin Haiu are vigorous and beautiful. Pianist Sarah Watkins accompanied with care and sensitivity.

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“What did they do with that money?” A common question among the Wellington contemporary dance community, asked of The New Zealand Dance Company’s CNZ funding; a huge amount for a single arts organisation, let alone contemporary dance. ($500,000 per annum for two years.)  Whether we’re irked the money wasn’t more evenly distributed, or that it all went up to Auckland (sniff), most of us were curious to find out how that cool million was put to use.

While I can’t claim to know where the funding is allocated behind the scenes or what politics it may, or may not be, wrapped in, I can tell you where some of it went from an audience perspective.

It went towards eight very strong Kiwi dancers, some unique Kiwi choreography and some imported from overseas, live musicians, performance-specific composed music, a simple yet fresh set design, engaging lighting, and probably a few techies.

The set, designed by Sue Gallagher, was effective in its simplicity.  Loops of metallic-coloured fabric hung side by side to create a backdrop, a musician’s reveal (as portions were raised and lowered), and a screen for projected introductions to each of the evening’s five pieces; a short graphic display in bright white lettering and the name of the next piece in the line-up.  A nice touch visually, especially for those who didn’t have programmes.

I was slightly concerned as Michael Parmenter’s ‘Tenerezza (…from time to time…)’ opened the show.  A strong display of finesse and impeccable partnering by dancers Craig Bary and Justin Haiu, but certainly nothing ground breaking.  The partnership seemed to be one of the-blind-leading-the-blind, with the dancers looking, but not seeing each other.  The movement, set to a vaguely familiar classical score (Bach’s Sonata in A Minor), was interrupted by sudden stops and starts, but without a pause long enough for the audience to linger on or register it.  There was one great moment of pause while Haiu and Bary breathed in unison after a particularly soft, yet strong, partnering phrase, but all was lost when the piece ended abruptly, as if the lights had been turned off by accident.

Director Shona MCCullagh’s ‘Trees, Birds Then People” offered an impassioned avian mating dance.  Again, strong dancing by the cast, Gareth Okan, Lucy Lynch, Hannah Tasker-Poland, and Tupua Tigafua, with displays of fast movement, quick changes of direction and intricate arm and hand choreography… bird-like in every aspect.  Lighting was subdued in the colours of New Zealand bush, music played live by NZTrio and composed by Gareth Farr was suitable for the piece, and tone was comical and quirky.  A cute quartet.

‘Release Your Robot’, was where the show broke free of its typical contemporary clutch.  Justin Haiu shone as choreographer and performer, fusing his street dance and contemporary dance backgrounds.  He offered a simple story in a slick white suit and matching kicks (shoes) in a new style that seemed so right for a Kiwi dance company.  His presentation of a human robot showing his moves during a night out and tragically being felled by a hit-and-run was an engaging and truly unique. I hope the audience was taking note, as hopefully they’ll be seeing more of this contemporary fusion.

Another NZDC choice I grudgingly admired (I am a Wellingtonian after all) was their extended scope to a piece of European choreography. ‘Prelude a L’apres midi D’un Faune’ (‘Prelude to an Afternoon of a Faun’), is a solo for Ursula Robb gifted by Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker of Belgian company Rosas.  It shows the company is looking further afield than its own back yards for inspiration, but whether it was the subdued (perhaps drab) costume or the changes to the choreography to ‘suit a female body’ (it’s usually performed by a male)something was lost in translation.  ‘Afternoon of a Faun’ has been rehashed many times by various ballet and contemporary choreographers; the original was performed by Nijinksy in 1912, and Debussy’s iconic score never fails to impress.  Unfortunately, although Robb encapsulates the awkwardness and vulnerability of the Faun, the piece as a whole was not the most successful adaptation.

And finally the closing: ‘Human Human God’.  If this piece were a news story it would be a human interest bit produced by the young intern with their finger on the pulse and an ear for music — the problem, the plight, the desperation, anger, and the action.

It takes on the insular characteristics (failures?) of Generation Y; their upbringing in a P.C. world (P.C. in this case could stand for both ‘politically correct’ and ‘personal computer’), their self-focus, and some would say, their demands to be treated both as equals and as unique individuals.  It encapsulates all the clichés this generation has to offer, and there-in lies the dark humour.  Choreographer Sarah Foster-Sproull (she notes contributions from the dancers as well) knows what she’s working with and has moulded it into both a laughable piss-take and a serious look at this most modern of generations.

The cast (all company members except Robb) take this human interest story on with a bold, urban warrior style as they oppress, manipulate and prove their uniqueness to each other in some fierce choreography.  Not a weak dancer among them, they worked well in the unison sections, but with enough personal style (especially among the men) to make it interesting and varied.  Adding to the story is a score by Eden Mulholland, a favourite composer among contemporary dancers.  The grandly operatic, pop-alt score kept pace with the dancers.  (Or was it the other way around?)

Normally I wouldn’t recommend dancers to act… ever.  But both the recorded and live dialogue were enjoyable, effective, and dare I say, believable?  (Perhaps I shouldn’t go that far.)  Gareth Okan broods masterfully as one of the main narrators on their standings as unique, yet equal human beings.  Individual gods, in fact.  “Everyone is a god”, he says, entitled to all the good things the world has to offer.  How will they get it?  By being mean, or being nice?  Both, as only Gen Y can do. 

The New Zealand Dance Company impresses in their ability to retain the ‘contemporary’ in contemporary dance, as with Justin Haiu’s and Sarah Foster-Sproull’s choreographies, the show’s professional presentation, as made evident in their lighting, music, and stage design, and in spotlighting what New Zealand dancers are known for; strong, fierce, competent dancing.  Pity they’re based in Auckland.

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When Ursula Robb, New Zealand dancer turned global star, takes the stage in her stunning solo Faune, set to Debussy’s most famous Prelude a l’apres-midi d’un faune, the everyday world stops and there is only this nascent little creature in its woodland grove, somewhere else.

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As they embark on their first ever tour around the North Island the New Zealand Dance Company has acquired several new emerging artists who bring a different, but essentially vital energy to the company’s original launch programme of works, Language of Living, first shown in Auckland a year ago.  In Auckland and Wellington, the company is also presenting a new solo work – Prélude à L’après-midi d’un Faune, choreographed by Belgian choreographer Anne Teresa de Keersmaker, for dancer Ursula Robb.

As a programme to introduce the company to the smaller centres of the North Island, Language of Living has much to commend it.  The works showcase many different styles of contemporary dance choreography, created for the company by both established and newer dance-makers.  It achieves a satisfying fusion of some of the elements that currently define the art-form in Aotearoa.  These include quirky humour, brash physicality and multi-faceted explorations of the aesthetics inherent in the architecture of the environment, together with the trajectory of bodies moving through a variety of spaces.

The works are individually introduced through explosive graphics designed by Gerbrand van Melle and projected onto a front curtain.  The setting of each work is further defined by adjustments to the extraordinary metallic-material backdrop created for the company by spatial designer Sue Gallagher, which is elegantly lit by Matthew Marshall.  Andreas Mikellis creates a variety of costumes in a muted palette enlivened with subtle splashes of colour or pattern.

Although it is an exploration of space performed largely in profile, De Keersmaeker’s work Prélude à L’après-midi d’un Faune, created in conjunction with Mark Lorimer, is clearly expressed differently to the New Zealand works.  Referencing Nijinsky’s iconic choreography of L’après-midi d’un Faune, to Debussy’s music, it harnesses the raw, laconic energy of the original and turns it on its head by having a female perform the intimate dance of thwarted desire.  Robb’s strength and mercurial directional changes invest the work with a charged and vigorous dynamic, vesting every nuance of the movement with meaning and layering the whole with an understated femininity.

Michael Parmenter’s duet for two men, Tenerezza (..from time to time..) is also concerned with intimacy – in this instance the emotional intimacy of lovers and how it manifests itself through shared space.  Accompanied by a beautiful rendition of Bach’s Sonata in A Major, 2^nd Movement played by David Guerin on piano in Auckland, dancers Craig Bary and Justin Haiu establish a palpable and believable rapport.  As they jostle to establish the parameters of their relationship and the melding of the space between them, they alternate moments of quiet tenderness – gently touching each other – with high arched lifts and rhythmic walking sequences in circular patterning.

The New Zealand Dance Company’s Artistic Director, Shona McCullagh presents her lively interpretation of Gareth Farr’s composition, Mondo Rondo here given a spirited live performance by the New Zealand Trio.  Entitled Trees, Birds then People, the work is performed with great relish by four of the younger members of the company: new dancers Pamela Sidhu and Gareth Okan, together with Hannah Tasker-Poland and Tupua Tigafua.    The choreography celebrates the natural bush environment that all New Zealanders cherish and uses humour to draw parallels between avian and human interaction.

Sarah Foster Sproull’s work Human Human God to music by Eden Mulholland, is given clarity through a strong performance by Okan – stepping into the role originally created for dancer Alex Leonhartsberger.  Performed by seven of the eight dancers including new company member Lucy Lynch, the work investigates the social mores of “Generation Y” with their proclivity to be both “mean and nice”.  Sproull uses humour and bursts of a fast, thrashing vocabulary of movement to challenge the morality of such a stance and the dearth of spirituality in this mode of existence.

Justin Haiu’s idiosyncratic work Release Your Robot is presented in Auckland as a solo by Haiu, but in Warkworth and Hawkes Bay it will be performed in conjunction with local youth dance companies.  Performed to music played live by The Electric Boutique in Auckland, the work marries street dance moves with a contemporary aesthetic to create a cautionary tale of the inevitable change inherent in conformity.  Haiu’s exposition is clearly defined and performed with a touching characterisation.

The New Zealand Dance Company would appear to be in a good place as it sets out to fulfil its mission to deliver quality contemporary dance to New Zealanders, by touring the smaller centres.  Long may it continue.

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