What: Tempo Festival of Dance
Where and when: Venues across town, September 26-October 31; opens today with a parade from 360 Queen St to Britomart, 1.30-4pm
www.tempo.co.nz for programme and ticketing information
As dancers go, they are chalk and cheese. Until 2007, Geordan Wilcox was a member of the Royal New Zealand Ballet for 13 years. Contemporary dancer Kristian Larsen is known for his radical improvisational work. The pair's semi-improv piece in Prime Cuts, a collection of short works by some of
our most exciting choreographers, is bound to be one of the Tempo dance festival's most intriguing works.
"I like the idea of a set and structured piece, broken down to give more freedom. Kristian likes to see how an idea can be improved through structure, says Wilcox, 39, who connected with Larsen when they completed a postgraduate diploma in performing arts at the University of Auckland last year; he is now teaching and working towards his masters.
"We've gained a lot by bouncing ideas off each other and seeing how our different approaches rub off on each other. You can never really finish learning. I try to keep expanding as a dancer.
Other dancers to feature in the collaborative work so named because it features seasoned choreographers "reaching their prime includes Sefa Enari, Anna Bate, Melanie Turner and Gaby Thomas.
Although this year's Tempo festival lacks solo works by senior choreographers such as Michael Parmenter, Tempo director Mary Jane O'Reilly is confident the collaborative efforts of Prime Cuts and its younger cousin, Fresh Cuts, featuring emerging choreographers, will entice audiences to see shows back-to-back.
Many of the "shared works flank hour-long breaks, making it feasible to see more than one show a night; for example, contemporary dance fans can take in Prime Cuts, followed by the Late Show (a whimsical collection of short works, including one by O'Reilly herself in a solo show inspired by the music of Leonard Cohen and Philip Glass).
"There are not many choreographers in New Zealand who can sustain a whole show, it's a challenging art form," says O'Reilly, who believes our mountainous Pacific geography lends itself to a distinctive New Zealand style. "There are lots of cool examples of contemporary dance and what it is today."
Black Grace will be overseas during the festival but the majority of the country's dance companies, including Footnote (featuring Larsen), are performing at City Art Rooms and Cassette 9 and two works by the Royal New Zealand Ballet are included in the Duets showcase.
The public may also attend a variety of workshops and discussions with the likes of choreographer Douglas Wright and biographer Keith Money, or take part in self-awareness dance therapy and ballroom classes. Even those without tickets will be able to get into the spirit of the festival when Tempo kicks off at 1.30pm today with a parade down Queen St. While most of the festival takes place in traditional venues such as Auckland Town Hall, Maidment Theatre and Tapac, Tempo is determined to make an impression on the public with a free contemporary dance performance by Yours Truly Productions and the Manava Pasefika Quartet during rush hour at Spaghetti Junction on October 23.
If contemporary dance isn't your thing, there's plenty of hip-hop in the schedule: Brotherhood by the Sweet and Sour Dance Crew, TMZ's Under the Influence, the Hot urban dance showcase, and flavours of hip hop appearing in Fresh Cuts, and the street dance production of Circus 10.
"It's a recognition that we're getting more theatrical in our work and recognising how popular hip hop is," says O'Reilly. This year the budget didn't allow for a world showcase but there is plenty of ethnic content sprinkled throughout the programme. Sacred Dance, for instance, is a new contemporary work from Samoan dance company Ura Tabu, which explores dance as a spiritual form, plus works inspired by Indian temple dancing and an eclectic soundtrack provided by Leonard Cohen, Bach and Hirini Melbourne.
Even the Hootchy Kootchy Girls have added a foreign flavour to their burlesque show, with a Latin and Italian-inspired theme.
They'll be given a run for their money in the costume department with the return of Morag Magnolia Brownlie, whose Birds of Paradise show will be one of the festival's most visually alluring works. Brownlie has had a varied career _ not many choreographers can say they lived in Tanzania for a year _ and for many years choreographed the Wearable Art awards. For the last few years Brownlie was more likely to be found working behind the scenes in film but she is about to premiere her new show at the Leigh Sawmill Cafe and Matakana's Ascension Vineyard. Birds of Paradise merges dance, drama, burlesque and comedy, with the aid of exquisite, bird-like costumes. The audience are invited to dress up in fascinators and feathery cravats. "I'd been working on lots of serious, political docos and I wanted to do something playful and fun, an antidote to my other work," says Brownlie. "Birds are wonderful, they're special in every culture on the planet. I'm fascinated by their courtship rituals, how they communicate."
She has been collecting feminine Victorian pieces by Trelise Cooper, and has worked many of them into her show, which she says veers more toward cabaret than burlesque.
"It's a celebration of sexuality," she says, "although some might say it's not raunchy enough."