Arts and culture in Ōtautahi Christchurch
Erin Harrington reviews Running Into the Sun, presented by a2 Company, written and directed by Ben Ashby, choreographed by Nadiyah Akbar, designed by Asha Barr, composed by Lennox Grootjans and Toby Leman, at the Cloisters Studio at The Arts Centre Te Matatiki Toi Ora, Tuesday 9 September 2025. The story of the terrific multidisplinary work… Continue reading Review: Running Into the Sun – a freewheeling call for hope in the face of crisis
Erin Harrington reviews Pepe, presented by Good Company Arts, at the Cloisters studio, as part of Te Matatiki Toi Ora The Arts Centre's Matariki programming, Tuesday 10 June, 2025. Pepe is a 15-minute dance video work, although that sounds a little reductive for something that combines experimental digital media, filmed contemporary dance (kanikani) and taonga… Continue reading Review: Pepe – a dance video work in which moths flutter against the cosmos
Erin Harrington reviews Ngā Rorirori, by Hone Kouka, presented on tour by Tawata Productions, at the Aurora Centre, Friday 4 October. Hone Kouka’s new work Ngā Rorirori (or ‘the fools’) is a truly original piece of performance that combines dance and theatre to offer a comedic account of one family’s clash over whenua. Choregraphed by… Continue reading Review: Ngā Rorirori – a whirlwind mix of farce, dance, music – and ancestral land rights
Erin Harrington reviews Pōtaka Nautilus, presented by Good Company Arts, at The Arts Centre Te Matatiki Toi Ora, 27 June 2024. Good Company Arts, led by Arts Laureate Daniel Belton, creates fascinating multi-modal works that combine contemporary dance, taonga pūoro, sampled electronics and strings, digital video art and virtual reality technologies. Their work Ad Parnassum… Continue reading Review: Pōtaka Nautilus – a spiralling encounter with our place in the universe
Erin Harrington reviews Dance Nation, written by Clare Barron, directed by Alison Walls, at the Court Theatre, Saturday 23 September 2023. The Court Theatre’s fierce production of Clare Barron’s 2018 play Dance Nation invites superlatives. The show, as directed by Court Theatre AD Alison Walls, offers us a bonkers, vulgar, hilarious, vulnerable take on A… Continue reading Review: Dance Nation – a banger of a play about fierce and feral girlhood
Erin Harrington pokes around at the Off Centre festival, including performances of Requiem and Much Ado About Nothing, at The Arts Centre Te Matatiki Toi Ora, Friday 3 - Sunday 5 March. For other coverage see a review of A Baby Called Sovereignty here. When The Arts Centre Te Matatiki Toi Ora was severely impacted… Continue reading Review: Off Centre – Requiem, Much Ado About Nothing, and being a city
Erin Harrington reviews Ad Parnassum - Purapurawhetū, and Naomi van den Broek reviews Th’Orchard Dreamers Chapter 2 and Pōhutukawa, all performed at The Arts Centre Te Matatiki Toi Ora as part of their Matariki programming, 8 June - 9 July 2022. “Ngā toi is for everyone”, notes the introduction to The Arts Centre Te Matatiki… Continue reading Review: Matariki at The Arts Centre – Ad Parnassum -Purapurawhetū, th’Orchard, and Pōhutukawa
Erin Harrington writes about dance collective Tīwai's research showing of new work Te Pūtake at Movement Art Practice, 29 April 2022, and returns to JMO Theatrics' White Rabbit, Red Rabbit, which ran at Little Andromeda from 13-17 April, 2022. At the beginning of contemporary dance work Te Pūtake, from collective Tīwai (Rebecca Johnson, Kereana Mosen… Continue reading Performance, connectivity and care: Tīwai’s Te Pūtake and White Rabbit, Red Rabbit
Erin Harrington reviews Daybreak Estate, presented by All You Can Eat Productions at Little Andromeda, 17 March 2022. Choreographer Jessie McCall’s hour-long work Daybreak Estate is a wickedly funny, provocative and ultimately profound piece of dance theatre. It invites us to a bougie influencer retreat at the end of the world, where the only things… Continue reading Review: Daybreak Estate – last drinks at the end of the world
Erin Harrington recaps three discussion-based events at movement arts festival Tiny Fest, which ran from Friday 26 - Saturday 28 November 2021 at Little Andromeda and the Christchurch Town Hall. Tiny Fest in 2021 isn’t really that tiny. The 2019 festival, presented by Movement Art Practice, took place over a single day, starting early and… Continue reading Tiny conversations: points of exchange at Tiny Fest 2021
Flat City Field Notes 