A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.
From the opening recorded monologue accompanied by the percussive swoops of Eden Mulholland’s score to the moving final segment, dancer Rodney Bell’s Meremere is all about connection.
Twenty-six years after he was paralysed from the chest down in a motorbike accident, Bell connects so deeply with his audience he elicits
a standing ovation borne of aroha, respect and admiration for his artistry and unfailing optimism in the face of what others might experience as crushing adversity.
Carving his meremere in the opening scene, Bell tells his audience, “I was trying to make this beautiful thing”. One hour later when the work draws to a close, we in the audience know we have experienced a “beautiful thing”. In a series of impressionistic vignettes Bell tells us stories then amplifies those stories through dance. He gives us insights into growing up on the marae in Te Kuiti, the wonder he felt at winning an Isadora Duncan Award for dance in America, touring with Axis Dance Company, and then when his contract ended, finding ways to survive three years of living on the streets.
In one segment he uses audience participation to introduce the audience to Paradice, a dice game he developed in order to make money off tourists. He plays the harmonica, sleeps by the sea, calls on Ranginui and Tangaroa to connect him to home.
Attached to his wheelchair Bell employs expressive movements of arms, hands, upper chest and head. Sometimes the movements are swift, angular, percussive, at other times they are smooth and sculptural. In a pivotal scene, Bell is joined by guest artist Bianca Hyslop, who rises from the audience to dance with him. In a series of fluid rolls, high leaps, percussive kicks and driving spirals — at one point lying balanced across his back as he freewheels round the stage — she seemed to personify flight itself.
