2012 Brancott Estate WOW Awards Show Opens

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2012 Brancott Estate WOW Awards Show Opens- Sassy Sophistication Collide

An excited sellout crowd of close to 3800 people were entertained from the moment they stepped onto Queens Wharf in Wellington tonight as the 2012 Brancott Estate World of WearableArt Awards Show opened for its 24th show.

As an awards show WOW presents WearableArt competition entries to nearly 50,000 show-goers each season, showcasing the garments in a show of spectacular AV effects, stunning choreography and beautiful music.

WOW Founder Suzie Moncrieff says the sheer brilliance of the garments, the stunning sets and the choreography come together to make this year’s show another outstanding success.

An alien introduced the show, entitled “Out of This World”, sending the crowd into fits of laughter before he was teleported through the air ahead of the first of the seven WOW sections.

The show itself opened with the Mainfreight Duffy’s Books in Homes Children’s Section, which was set amongst giant cardboard boxes, out of which characters of a little girl’s imagination reveal themselves – as do the WearableArt garments around her. The pyjama-clad girl played with giant stuffed toys and a real life musical-box ballet dancer, as around her beetles, buzzy bees, butterflies, spiders, flowers and red cabbages, and even a sock monster, move around to the music of childhood memories. Who wouldn’t want to play in this world?

The Air New Zealand South Pacific Section opened with a powerful Karanga performed from amongst the audience, while on stage ceiling height film effects of smoke and tribal warriors were choreographed to interact with live warrior performers. The dance sequences were created by guest choreographers Tanemahuta Gray and Victoria Colombus, with dancers moving around the garments, which encompassed Pacific Island culture, from the land to the sea to the sky. At the end of the section the thumping Pacific beats were replaced with the soft sounds of the Wellington East Girls College Choir.

The American Express Open Section combines the country’s best dancers in two dramatic dance pieces. At the beginning, bright full-circle skirts fly in a striking female-only tango, countered at the end of the section by a sensual all-male tango - the latter choreographed by Michael Parmenter. Michael has been in France completing his PHD and studying the intricacies of the Tango. As the music’s tempo increased the crowd responded, cheering for the garments which were of all shapes and colours.

The lights then dimmed as the CentrePort Illumination Illusion Section opened with a dozen spinning orbs generating flicking patterns of UV light across the stage, followed by a parade of bright and fun illuminated garments moving to a strange soundscape.

The Gen-i Creative Excellence Section opened with two of the Wellington Vector Orchestra musicians playing while suspended from the ceiling on a wingback chair and clawfooted bath. The rest of the orchestra’s musicians were transported onto stage to form a large junk pile, as they sat on various cast out items, such as wheel barrows, shopping trolleys and babies’ cribs. After arriving on stage on the back of a weird, punk-inspired chariot, Gareth Farr conducted the music score he composed, which combined the orchestra’s music with the sounds of WearableArt garments. This high energy section is indeed a “Visual Symphony.”

The sections then move from steampunk to sophisticated elegance as the Tourism New Zealand Avant Garde Section opens with a peaceful procession of dancers in long white gowns carrying candles, who gracefully light large gothic candelabra. Stunning black garments enter the stage, punctuating the white light, followed by garments in red. As other garments are presented on stage, the section becomes spiritually charged with the fluid movement of more than 40 of New Zealand’s strongest dancers.

The Grand Finale of this years’ show is an absolute show-stopper. Inspired by Sci-Fi, Flash Gordon, Barbarella and the hilarious B-grade movies of the 60’s and 70’s, the WOW & Classic Car Museum Bizarre Bra Section is best described as outrageous. A fire breathing performer, space policemen and a giant alien octopus entertain and provide a fun-filled backdrop for the most fantastic collection of bizarre bras we have had so far. This energetic section finishes with an all cast dance – bringing down the house in its share size and volume.

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The Brancott Estate World of WearableArt™ (WOW) Awards Show is New Zealand’s single largest arts show, and is now into its 24th year. It is a truly world-class event, with this year’s show season another sell out as nearly 50,000 show-goers from around the globe witness the breathtaking two-hour spectacular of art, theatre, dance, and music, bringing to life 164 incredible designs. The high energy show tells a powerful visual and aural story, presenting the top designs selected in the annual WOW competition.

Dame Suzie Moncrieff created the WOW concept in 1987 to challenge designers to take “art off the wall and onto the human form”. Designers come from all occupations, from many different backgrounds and from around the globe. WOW gives designers the opportunity to be innovative and original, while not being bound by the constraints of commercialism. The only limit is imagination.

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For more information, releases and imagery please go to www.worldofwearableart.com/media

EDITORIAL NOTE: Please initially refer to the show as the Brancott Estate World of

WearableArt™ Awards Show which can then be shortened to the Brancott Estate WOW®

Awards Show. Please publish the full names for sections and awards i.e. the Air New

Zealand South Pacific Section, and please credit the photos with the name of the garment and the designers.

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