A PERFORMING arts director says dance has been the only way he has to "perfectly" explain a life dealing with mental illness.
Adrian Renor, of Featherston, wrote, directed and performed in Minds Like Ours, a raw dance performance by solidAiR productions at Kuranui College over the weekend, artistically showcasing five mental health conditions in five scenes.
Five actors, including Renor, portrayed people with depression, anorexia, obsessive compulsive disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and schizophrenia, while a dance troupe acted out the illnesses they confronted daily. For example, a student with ADHD (played by Marlon Moala-Knox) tried to concentrate on his studies, while a mischievous and destructive companion constantly grabbed at his material and tried to tempt him into games.
Renor, who has mental illness, is a former Kuranui College student and now studies at Whitireia Performance Centre in Wellington.
The stories were intended to show mental illnesses "as they actually are" but with every mind being different, not everyone's experience was the same, said Renor.
