A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.
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 elicitsa 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.
This year’s inaugural Te Tairawhiti Arts Festival has a simple kaupapa — to celebrate artists and connections to place, while welcoming the world. Rodney Bell’s Meremere fits perfectly.
Produced under the banner of Movement of the Human (MOTH), Meremere is directed by the acclaimed Malia Johnston.
Johnston has worked with a range of performers and arts organisations including 15 years on World of Wearable Art Awards shows. In Meremere, her artistic collaborators shine. Eden Mulholland’s score incorporates bird calls, muffled voices, the whoosh of the taiaha, and explosions of sound. Mulholland performs live on stage throughout, responsive to Bell at every moment.
John Verryt’s simple set design consists of a white triangle in the shape of a wharenui. At the apex is the tekoteko, a carved human figure, its paua shell eyes catching the light. AV designer Rowan Pierce uses shadows and projections to throw up evocative images — a fallen Statue of Liberty, maps, a cross. And feathers, symbols of flight and freedom. Lighting designer Ruby Reihana-Wilson plays lines of red and black light over the white canvas of the set.
From the Tairawhiti Arts Festival, Meremere headed to the Hawke’s Bay Arts Festival where it was performed at the Blyth Performing Arts Centre (Iona College) last night.
