Dive In And Be Swept Into Undercurrent, Footnote New Zealand Dance’s National Tour - Showing At The Opera House, 12 Nov

Undercurrent: Double-bill season

Undercurrent description:

Celebrating its 35th anniversary, renowned national dance company Footnote New Zealand Dance, presents Undercurrent: two absorbing new dance works that are rich in detail and grand in scale. Dive in and be swept into these worlds, created by Japanese artist Kota Yamazaki and New Zealand choreographer Rose Philpott.

Kota Yamazaki shares a reflective mosaic of visual delight in his work Fog, Nerves, Future, Ocean, Hello (echoes). Mysterious, surprising and beautiful, this work is the result of working across continents in a changed world. Inspired by the landscape of Wellington and the unpredictability of human behaviour, this work is buoyed by hypnotic sound design by Jesse Austin-Stewart and intricate, sculptural set design by his Tokyo-based collaborators.

Dry Spell, choreographed by Rose Philpott, is a telling of one night. A whirlpool of frenzied hedonism set to an original composition by prolific sound designer Eden Mulholland. Saturated in colour and energy, Dry Spell sinks to intriguing depths in a strange collection of equally murky and razor-sharp encounters.

Anchored by the intensity and skill of the Footnote New Zealand Dance company members, Undercurrent will flood theatres across the country with crisp and captivating dance.

Season dates:

21st October - Expressions Whirinaki Arts and Entertainment Centre, Upper Hutt [casual, preview]

24th October - Coastlands Theatre, Te Raukura ki Kāpiti, Kāpiti [premiere]

29th October - Addison Theatre, Baycourt, Tauranga

31st October - ASB Waterfront Theatre, Auckland

5th November - Taranaki Arts Festival, TSB Showplace, New Plymouth

7th November - Theatre Royal, Nelson

10th November - Aurora Centre, Burnside High School, Christchurch

12th November - Opera House, Wellington

Creatives/Cast:

Fog, Nerves, Future, Ocean, Hello (echoes)

Choreographer and Costume Design - Kota Yamazaki

Sound Design - Jesse Austin-Stewart

Lighting Design - Lisa Maule

Set Design - Kuichi Toshikatsu

Set Fabrication - Kei Machida

Dry Spell

Choreographer and Set Design - Rose Philpott

Sound Design - Eden Mulholland

Lighting Design - Lisa Maule

Set Construction - Allan Rockell

Dancers

Nadiyah Akbar

Oliver Carruthers

Sebastian Geilings

Rosie Tapsell

Cheyanne Teka

Dry Spell

Choreographer: Rose Philpott

Rose Philpott is a graduate of the Unitec Dance programme (BPSA Contemporary Dance) and has been working as a freelance dancer, choreographer and teacher for the past 8 years. Rose is an long term collaborator of Foster Group performing in Orchids (2017 & 2019), and in development works Double Goer (2019) and Gender Panic (2019). She made Night Swim for Footnote New Zealand Dance’s season Search Engine (2018) and is co-Artistic Director of SOFT.co with Jessie McCall whose works include HEALR (2016 & 2018) and in development INFLATED REBEL (2020). Rose has performed for Sarah Foster- Sproull and Footnote New Zealand Dance, Okareka Dance Company, Malia Johnston, World Of Wearable Art, Claire O’Neil, Kerryn McMurdo, Lucy Marinkovich and Jessie McCall. She was the recipient of the Eileen

May Norris Dance Scholarship (2016) and won the Paul Jenden Costume Designer of the Year award alongside Tori Manly-Tapu for Foster Group’s Orchids (2019). Rose is a lecturer at The University of Auckland, and teaches at The Auckland Performing Arts Centre, she is currently studying towards her Bachelor of Honours in Dance Studies at The University of Auckland.

Fog, Nerves, Future, Ocean, Hello (echoes)

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Choreographer: Kota Yamazaki

Born in Niigata, Japan, Kota Yamazaki’s performance and choreographic career has taken him across the world to collaborate, choreograph and perform in many theatres and festivals.

Yamazaki was introduced to the movement practice of Butoh at the age of 18 under the teaching of Akira Kasai. He completed training as a music conductor, and also graduated from Bunka Fashion College with a BA in Fashion Design. He was invited to work with Daniel Larrieu at Centre National de Danse Contemporaine in 1989 in Angers, France. In 1994, Yamazaki became a finalist in the platform of Bagnolet choreographic competition (the International de Bagnolet Councours) in France for his second choreographic work, Reflection. He was also invited to join the TAP (Triangle Arts Program) artist exchange program in 1997. Through this programme, which was coordinated by Asian Cultural Council and the Saison Foundation, Yamazaki spent one month in the United States and Indonesia respectively.

Yamazaki established his Tokyo-based company rosy co. in 1996. The company was invited to perform nationally and internationally by theatres and festivals such as Place Theatre (England), Yorkshire Dance Festival (England), Biennale de Nationale de Dane Val-de Marine (France), Buena Center for the Arts (CA, USA), Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival (MA, USA), Bates Dance Festival (MA, USA), Indonesian Dance Festival and Bunkamura Theater Cocoon (Japan).

Following an invitation from Germain Acogny to create a work FAGAALA in collaboration with her Senegal-based company, since 2003 Yamazaki (with New York-based Fluid hug-hug) has been presenting work at national and international theaters and festivals such as Melbourne International Arts Festival (Australia), NUS for the Arts (Singapore), Globalize: Cologne (Germany), PICA/TBA Festival (OR, USA), Dance Theater Workshop (NY, USA), New York Live Arts (NY, USA), Andy Warhol Museum (PA, USA), Miami Light Project (FL, USA), Wesleyan University (CT, USA), UC San Diego (CA, USA), ASU Gammage (AZ, USA), FIAF/Crossing Line (NY, USA) and Japan Society (NY, USA).

Yamazaki is a recipient of prestigious American dance awards and fellowships including the The New York Dance and Performance Awards (the Bessie Award) in 2007, Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grant Award in 2013, NYFA Fellowship in 2016, Guggenheim Fellowship in 2018 and he is a two-time The Herb Alpert Award nominee.

Yamazaki is the Director for Body Arts Laboratory, the first artist-run organisation in Tokyo and through this role has organised the cross-disciplinary Whenever Wherever Festival in Tokyo since 2009.

Event details for Wellington show:

Date: Thursday 12th November, 2020

Time: 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm

Venue: Opera House

Address: 113/111 Manners Street, Te Aro, Wellington

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