As he approaches his 50th birthday, choreographer Moss Te Ururangi Patterson (Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Pūkenga, Ngāti Rāhiri) is still pushing boundaries. In his latest creation, Home, Land and Sea, the artistic director of the New Zealand Dance Company is doing something that hasn’t been done before in local dance: six contemporary dancers from his company join six ballet dancers from the Royal New Zealand Ballet to perform his piece. As he puts it, the choreography will be a challenge for each group, but he’s excited about the potential magic.
“The New Zealand style of contemporary dance is very athletic, it’s very grounded, it’s very circular, and it’s very bold. Ballet has quite a different aesthetic; it’s elevated, it’s off the ground, it’s very symmetrical and has an inherent beauty to it. We are bringing two distinct styles together to realise something else.
“The unknown future is this: What if there is a middle space we’ve never explored, which could symbolise the next stage of dance in this country?”
While dance companies can and do collaborate, it is unprecedented to bring the two nationally focused companies together, especially when they are typically rivals for ticket sales. But Patterson is friends with the RNZB artistic director, Ty King-Wall, and he hopes their collaboration is symbolic of what he’d like to see happening more in New Zealand – socially, politically, and in the arts.
Says Patterson: “It’s important that we step up, we’re the very best at what we can do, that we show our skill as contemporary dancers to national audiences across the country, alongside the best ballet dancers in the country.”
Collaboration goes further than just the dancers. Rock musician Shayne Carter (Straitjacket Fits, Dimmer) has created a score he hopes will jolt the ballet audience. Carter describes Home, Land and Sea as a political piece. “I’m pretty angry about where things are, about the rise of the right and the displacement of people. The political tides are eroding the land, and our sense of identity. That’s a big brief to put into three musical notes.”
Musically, he wants to evoke an atmosphere, to bring moments of beauty and corrosive elements to Patterson’s creation. “Everything I do creatively has to have an intent to it,” Carter says. “In this commission, I want to have moments of beauty and the grandeur of nature, but also to reflect on the reality of where we are now. That’s my inspiration, like it or lump it.”
Carter has been working on various arts projects for the past decade, ever since he and Patterson collaborated on the Atamira Dance Company’s Pango/Black, which told the Māori creation story. Then, Carter performed live on stage with the company as it took the work to Taiwan and China. This time he’s recording the score and the themes are broader: navigation, identity, belonging and validation, all told through music and dance.
The new work shares the title of the 2004 TrinityRoots album. “They’re my bros. I’ve known them all for years,” Patterson says. He went to school with drummer Riki Gooch and is related to bassist Rio Hemopo.
Stories about navigation, from Europe and the Pacific, fascinate him, as does how these can be expressed through dance. Divided into three parts, Home will be an unyielding opening, with overtones of Māori dance, and bold movements reflecting New Zealanders today. “We’re built on a nation of hard workers, of teams of people, communities of people doing things together.”
Land will be more sculptural, beautiful and ethereal, as dancers move to Carter’s almost ghostly, soulful guitar soundtrack. “When I listen to the score it makes me think of a Colin McCahon or Robyn Kahukiwa painting,” says Patterson.
Sea looks into the future. Movements will be intense, reflecting our rocky, turbulent world. “It’s talking about the discomfort of not knowing where we’re going but trying to let little rays of light into the score to give us hope. We’ll have some very beautiful, kinetic, moving tableaux. In the last section, we’ll have a very physical, cyclical, circular and aerial style, some lifting, throwing, lots of movement that takes us off-centre. That will probably unsettle people. They’ll be thinking: “What’s Moss trying to say there?”
Patterson says it ends with a note of uncertainty but also hope. “The future is uncertain. But in that uncertainty, there has to always be hope. We need to feel hopeful … We’ve got to make serious work now. Shayne doesn’t do anything by halves, and neither do I.
“The social impact of this piece is a very important part of my arts practice. As a proud indigenous Ngāti Tūwharetoa grandson, it’s important that I stand up and speak from that place proudly and speak on behalf of dance proudly. I hope that we can create something beautiful and hopeful, that speaks about the importance of knowing who we are.”
A second work, Chrysalis, is also having its world premiere in the programme. Created by the RNZB choreographer-in-residence, Shaun James Kelly, it’s his first commissioned production for the main stage. It’s an important, symbolic piece, coming just months after the Scottish-born dancer, who has spent 12 years with the RNZB, was given New Zealand residency.
There’s a deeper story in Chrysalis about his metamorphosis as a dancer in Scotland, to his journey as a soloist and choreographer with the RNZB. “It’s that journey of everything I’ve learned and my collaboration with the dancers I perform with too,” he says.
Chrysalis begins with the dancers emerging in trench coats with costumes beneath. During the next 40 minutes, they will slowly discard their garments, until each dancer simply wears a unique, hand-painted unitard by fashion designer Rory William Docherty.
“I came across this concept where you wear clothing to hide yourself or to express yourself,” James Kelly says. “Some people allow you to let down your guard, to reveal your true self. I thought, what is the best way to show that to an audience?”
Royal New Zealand Ballet & New Zealand Dance Company: Home, Land and Sea, choreographed by Moss Patterson, music by Shayne Carter: Wellington, July 24-26; Auckland, July 31-Aug 2; August 8-9.
