Pointes, toots and a kettle

Tonia Looker, Rory Fairweather-Neylan and the rest of the Royal New Zealand Ballet face a tough performing schedule during their national tour. Photo / Maarten Noll

Packing up the Royal New Zealand Ballet for their biennial Tutus on Tour is no small task. With 47 venues, from Twizel to Taihape, Kaitaia, Greytown and Gore, they have the country pretty much covered. In the Auckland region alone, there are performances in Manukau, Titirangi, Papakura and Takapuna.

The company splits into two for the occasion, into North and South Island crews - each contingent of 25, including 16 dancers, travelling by bus with a five-tonne truck for the gear: hundreds of pointe shoes, 40m of ballet shoe ribbon, 120m of dance floor, 280 rolls of PVC tape, a lighting rig, sound system, a washing machine and dryer - and a kettle for making the tea.

Wardrobe supervisor Andrew Pfieffer, no stranger to the demands of company touring after 10 years' experience on the road, is almost blase about the demands on his skills, as tights and ties and billowing tutus (he calls them "toots") all made to perfect measure, extreme flexibility and the laundering strength of rugby sweats, are loaded into "fluffies" for their journey.

It is part of the deal that some venues will be challenging. The angle on some out-of-the-way stages has seen props as well as dancers gravitate alarmingly close to the edge.

At one notorious theatre, the only lavatory was situated right in the wings. A sign on the inside of the door read "Flushing - only permitted during applause".

The dance programme this year is also a challenge. Five scintillating works, four of them new to the company with three premieres choreographed by in-house, or former in-house talents, has the dancers at full stretch.

Dancing dad Michael Braun, 30, the father of a three-year-old and 19-month-old twins, is no stranger to stress. But he considers this programme among the heaviest workloads of his dancing career, even without the added demands of travelling.

"Triple bills are challenging enough - but this is five great pieces, each one a challenge in its own right," he says.

The gorgeous Saltarello was created for the company by Christopher Hampson in 2001 and had its last bravura showing in 2004. Then there is ballet master Greg Horsman's demanding and classical new piece, Holberg Suite, an exercise in Horsman's teaching mantra of strength, elegance, speed, precision and musicality.

Former RNZB dancer Andrew Simmons contributes a stunning duet, Through to You, to Arvo Part's Spiegel im Spiege, followed by Currently Under Investigation. Australian choreographer Garry Stewart has created this work on a classical base with a stunning contemporary twist, a ricochet of street dance - think rap and crumping - with stylish white clothes and more than passing reference to the brutal, violent, cut-throat and elitist realm that the world of classical ballet can sometimes be.

Last up is Koo Koo Ka Choo, a multi-faceted study of love to Beatles' tunes, created by company dancers Brendan Bradshaw and Catherine Eddy. It is huge fun.

But without exception the dancers adore even the excruciatingly hard work of the road tours. They represent an important rite of passage for the newest dancers, a chance to explore Godzone, beyond the main centres, for the many company dancers who are not Kiwi born and bred, and for all, it is a chance to connect more closely with some of their warmest and enthusiastic audiences.

"It is more like visiting family," says Alessia Lugaboni, a tiny Italian dancer who joined the company in 2004 and charmed the socks off everyone in 2008's Cinderella, in the role of the youngest stepsister. Lugaboni left her own hometown of Verona at a tender age to pursue her dancing career.

"It is my favourite time, going around the country and meeting people," she says of the road tours. "I couldn't miss it. Old ladies bring us home-made muffins, people come in and watch the class and then invite you out with them to see their town or beach or whatever.

"On my first tour, it all went so fast I didn't know where I was really. You travel, perform, travel, perform. The names of the places are not really in your head. I talked with my mother and she asked me where I was. I just said, 'Lost in the North Island'."

Performance

What: Royal NZ Ballet Tutus on Tour.
Where and when: TelstraClear Pacific, Manukau, March 11; Titirangi War Memorial Hall, March 14; Hawkins Theatre, Papakura, March 15; Bruce Mason Centre, Takapuna, March 25.
On the web: www.nzballet.org.nz.