The capacity of dance to offer insight into our lives was foregrounded in the first 48 hours of Tempo 2013, with works exploring love, grief, lynching, the transformation of traditional cultural forms, the satisfactions to be found in distraction, the delights of body percussion, and human resilience.
Opening night brought a richly immersive experience in Tuakana Pure, a spectacular performance installation collaboratively created by Charles Koroneho (performer, designer, producer) in partnership with Brad Gledhill (performance design, lighting, production) and Alejandro Ronceria (dramaturgy, choreography, direction).
At once mourning the recent passing of Koroneho's father, re-committing to aspects of family, whanau, place and culture, and reflecting on the transformation wrought by relocation, this work offers a ritualised space in which those watching are also invited to reflection.
Gledhill's extraordinary lighting sets the audience behind a waterfall-like canopy of light beams while Koroneho's resting, very slowly moving body appears to be on fire, releasing little puffs of smoke and glowing with intense, lava-like light. Later, Koroneho navigates the world via star maps, and binds his personal and cultural necessities to a stick with glowing LED strings.
The Fresh showcase brings well-developed and impressively performed short works from emerging artists Jahra Rager, Tepaeru-Ariki Lulu French, Grace Woollett, Simon Watts and Andrew Cesan. The fifth and most impressive work of the selection, by Sophie Williams and Mattie Hamuera, is Nga Whaiaipo O Te Roto Lovers of the Lake, a sensitively crafted evocation of the relationship between legendary lovers Hinemoa and Tutanekai.
