MEREMERE MAKES ITS GISBORNE DEBUT IN INAUGURAL TE TAIRAWHITI ARTS FESTIVAL
An autobiographical performance work about an unimaginable life will have its Gisborne premiere at the inaugural Tairāwhiti Arts Festival in October.
Choreographed by critically acclaimed dancer and performer, Rodney Bell (Ngāti Maniapoto), Meremere is a breath-taking and compelling telling of one man’s story and the survivor in us all. It merges spoken word, music, dance and multimedia design into an entirely new form of storytelling.
Meremere is Rodney’s story – from a childhood spent on the pa, to living rough on the streets of San Francisco, and scaling the heights of an artistic career, Meremere explores the human response to the ebbs and flows of fortune, the transformative journey to inner strength and peace, and the immutable call of home.
Uplifting, intimate and engaging, this powerful performance, which features live music from Eden Mulholland, was developed in collaboration with director Malia Johnston’s respected performance design company Movement of the Human.
A critically acclaimed dancer and performer, Rodney Bell is internationally renowned for his physically integrated performance. He has been dancing professionally since 1994 when he began as a founding member of Touch Compass Dance Trust.
Bell relocated to California in 2007 to join AXIS Dance Company as a principal dancer. Over a period of five years, he toured with the company to 32 states. After finishing with AXIS before his return to New Zealand, he faced some challenges, which included a period of homelessness on the streets of San Francisco. This however turned out to be a life changing experience - and one which inspired the creation of Meremere.
Bell and Malia Johnston have worked and danced together for many years. Johnston has a 20-year background in choreography and performance direction. She has collaborated with a diverse range of performers and arts organisations, and created new work for both the national and international stage. Johnston is widely acknowledged for her many years of working on the World of Wearable Art Awards show including a return in 2018 as Creative Director for their 30th anniversary show.
Meremere has seen Bell win the 2017 Arts Access Artistic Achievement Award and the 2016 Attitude Artistic Achievement Award.
The show opens at Gisborne’s War Memorial Theatre on Saturday 12 and 13 October.
ENDS
“This autobiographical, multi-disciplinary and life-affirming survival story drew the cheering opening night audience to its feet.” - Dominion Post
“Our creativity as a region provides connection for all New Zealanders.”
– Tama Waipara, Festival Director
Te Tairāwhiti Arts Festival
From 4-20 October 2019, Te Tairāwhiti Arts Festival will put a spotlight on the Gisborne region with more than 70 exceptional live performance events by over 400 performers, from both New Zealand and all over the world.
The region’s new flagship arts and culture event is a rich, diverse and thoughtful contemporary arts festival which reflects and celebrates the people of Tairāwhiti. Multi-artform, region-wide, and a mixture of paid and free events, shows and arts events, Te Tairāwhiti Arts Festival’s kaupapa embraces the richness of the Gisborne region, celebrates the abundance of artistic excellence connected to Tairāwhiti, and recognises the region’s place in the creative landscape of Aotearoa.
The festival celebrates the remote nature of its location and uplifts the unique community spirit and geographic identity which defines not only the Tairāwhiti region, but also Aotearoa.