NZDC tours ‘Rotunda’ in Australasia

New Zealand Dance Company (NZDC) will tour its vivid work Rotunda from March to May this year. Rotunda commemorates the centenary of New Zealand and Australia’s involvement in the First World War.

Created by Arts Laureates Shona McCullagh (company artistic director) and Don McGlashan (musical director) in collaboration with eight dancers, Rotunda asks, “What is courage?” It features the beautiful collision of a live brass band with the raw power of contemporary dance, timed to honour the Gallipoli landings in 1915.

Performing in this poignant and moving work is the NZ Army Band and North Shore Brass in New Zealand. They present a range of heartfelt hymns and stunning, new brass works by contemporary Kiwi composers. Rotunda is “a living memorial that celebrates the ANZAC spirit and the themes of courage, loss, kinship and ultimately, a desire for peace.”

Invited to the Holland Dance Festival in February 2014, Rotunda received four-star reviews and standing ovations at every performance. Now audiences across Australasia can see it, with Kiwis being appropriately put first.

The show will tour to: the Baycourt Community and Arts Centre in Tauranga on Friday, March 13; the Soundings Theatre at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa in Wellington on Thursday-Sunday, March 19-22; the Airforce Museum of New Zealand in Christchurch on Friday, March 27; Regent Theatre in Dunedin on Wednesday, April 1; and ASB Theatre at Aotea Centre in Auckland on Thursday-Saturday, April 23-25.

In May, Rotunda will be presented at Western Sydney’s dynamic performing arts centre, Riverside Theatres.

For more information, visit www.nzdc.org.nz.

Photo by John McDermott.