CONTRAST Media Release
A double-bill of exceptional new dance work
Footnote New Zealand Dance has been at the forefront of contemporary dance for over 30 years. One of their missions is to foster a connection with New Zealand artists who are working overseas and to bring their perspectives back home.
With this goal in mind Footnote flew to Bern, Switzerland in July to work with Christchurch born, Swiss-based choreographer Emma Murray, on beginning the development process of a new dance work.
In October this work is touring New Zealand as part of a double bill titled CONTRAST which is the culmination of 4 months of intensive rehearsals.
“We work tirelessly to present New Zealand works to New Zealanders as part of our mission statement. Our aim with this international trip and subsequent tour of CONTRAST is to bring back to our audiences the very best, this double bill is no exception and we are thrilled to tour it nationwide in October”, says Footnote General Manager, Richard Aindow.
The CONTRAST tour is comprised of Super Ornate Construct (Sarah Foster-Sproull), a meditation on a man alone, and what it means to deconstruct and reform him through a female lens, and Participation (Emma Murray) a work that invites the audience to consider how we experience ourselves in relation to others and the spaces we inhabit.
New Zealand’s oldest contemporary dance company, Footnote New Zealand Dance have brought many highly regarded dance works to stages right across the country, including In Time of Flight, COLT, MTYLAND and Hullapolloi. CONTRAST, Footnote‘s major tour for 2017, begins in October, opening on 22 October at the
Kokomai Arts Festival in Greytown. The tour visits 8 centres across New Zealand and closes on 11 November in Dunedin and includes masterclasses, schools matinees and workshops to complement performances. In addition to the Kokomai Arts Festival, CONTRAST is also a part of the Tauranga Arts Festival.
Tickets to CONTRAST are on sale now.
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#CONTRAST2017
ENDS
MEDIA CONTACT:
For information, images or interview requests please contact:
media@footnote.org.nz
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Venues:
22nd October
Greytown – Kokomai Arts Festival, Kuranui College
25th October
Hawke’s Bay, Blyth Arts Centre
27th October
Tauranga Arts Festival, Baycourt Community and Arts Centre
1st November
Auckland, Raye Freedman Arts Centre
3rd-4th November
Wellington, Hannah Playhouse
7th November
Nelson, Theatre Royal
9th November
Christchurch, Papa Hou (YMCA)
11th November
Dunedin, Mayfair Theatre
About CONTRAST :
A double-bill of exceptional new dance work from Footnote New Zealand Dance, CONTRAST is the combination of two distinct choreographic voices, Sarah Foster-Sproull (Auckland, New Zealand) and Emma Murray (Bern, Switzerland).
Sarah Foster-Sproull’s Super Ornate Construct invites you into a cut out world. A man stands alone with his thoughts while carefully placed scenes morph around him. With musical composition by Andrew Foster, this energetic new work vibrates with rich imagery and original sound.
Melding, merging, blurring. In Participation Murray considers how we are built up and subsequently undone by those around us. Swiss sound designer, Till Hillbrecht, provides a musical backdrop to this exploration of first encounters and layered identities.
About choreographer Sarah Foster-Sproull:
A distinguished graduate of The New Zealand School of Dance, Sarah Foster- Sproull has danced with Douglas Wright Dance Company, Michael Parmenter & Commotion Company, Malia Johnston & Rifleman Productions, Raewyn Hill & Soapbox Productions, Footnote Dance Company, Mia Mason, Kristian Larsen, Guy Ryan, Sylvain Meret, Magpie Music Dance, Frauke Requardt, and The New Zealand Dance Company. Within her teaching practice Sarah has worked as a dance company tutor for Douglas Wright Dance, Atamira Dance Company, Footnote New
Zealand Dance.
http://www.creativenz.govt.nz/news/sarah-foster- sproull-awarded- 100-000- creative-
new-zealand- choreographic-fellowship
Sarah’s last work for Footnot was COLT in 2103 (toured in 2013 and 2014). Link to COLT reviews below:
https://footnote.org.nz/reviews-for- colt-made- in-new- zealand-2013/
About choreographer Emma Murray:
Emma was born in 1973 in Christchurch, New Zealand. After having trained at the New Zealand School of Dance, Emma was awarded a scholarship to join the Royal New Zealand Ballet Company in 1993 at age 19. Here she danced primarily classical repertoire and was promoted to soloist in 1996. She was made recipient of the ECNZ Dancer of the Year Award, the money of which allowed her to broaden her dance education by studying in Canada and Europe.
In 1988 she was engaged to dance at the Tiroler Landestheater in Innsbruck; then in 1999, she moved to Bern to join the Bern Ballet under the direction of Félix Duméril, and subsequent directors, Stijn Celis and Cathy Marston. Emma left the Bern Ballet in January 2008 and has since been active freelancing as a choreographer, dancer, actress and teacher, assisting on various choreographic projects, as well as continuing to perform in theatre and dance works all over Switzerland and abroad. In September 2008 Emma premiered her first solo work, «my body is an island», a co- production with Dampfzentrale Bern, casting a dubious eye on the interaction between «self-help» philosophies and dance. Her second full-length work, «you Should Have Seen Me», was also co-produced by Dampfzentrale Bern in 2010, followed by the solo «naturalcauses» which took a subversive look at the effects of natural disaster. Today she continues to perform, teach and choreograph from Bern where she lives with her 2 children.
About Footnote New Zealand Dance:
Footnote New Zealand Dance is a significant part of the dance experience for thousands of Kiwis. Over the past 30 plus years, Footnote has presented the fluid energy of dance as a real reflection of our New Zealand identity in the theatre, in schools and in the community. As a registered charitable trust, Footnote New Zealand Dance is funded by Creative New Zealand under the Toi Uru Kahikatea programme, and also receives support from Wellington City Council, Wellington Community Trust, a family of individual givers or Devotees, and sponsorships.
Footnote dancers: Tyler Carney, Joshua Faleatua, Georgia Beechey-Gradwell, Anu Khapung and Adam Naughton