POI AND WATTS “EQUALLY” ENTHRALLING
Tempo NZ Festival of Dance 2009 Awards
Such was their incredible performances throughout the tenure of this year’s Tempo NZ Festival of Dance, that judges could only award the “Best Male Performer” to both Jeremy Poi and Simon Watts.
Within the theatrical setting of Auckland’s Shanghai-Lils last night, the 2009 Tempo NZ’s Festival of Dance Awards once again celebrated another fantastic season of dance, where the benchmark was set yet again in terms of quality dance programming – Poi and Watts’ equal win a testament to this feat.
Watt’s win, who performed in TMC’s Under The Influence, in particular highlighted the shift this years programming had towards the more “urban” trends of dance, with hip-hop prevalent in 2009. TMC’s meteoric rise this year saw their choreographer Richie Cesan pick up “Best Choreography by an Emerging Artist”, “Best Scenography” and another big award on the night; the “Best Production – Evening Length Work” gong. Andrew Cesan also became one of six recipients of the “Stole the Limelight” award.
Claire Lissaman picked up the “Best Female Performer” award for her stellar performance in ADZE, as part of the Footnote Forte Solo Series 2009 and choreographed by Kristian Larsen – who picked up “Best Choreography by an Established Artist” himself for this work. Gabrielle Thomas’ beautiful contemporary piece HAPU, as part of the Prime Cuts programme, earned her the award for “Most Inspiring Performance” while the Shona McCullagh choreographed work Those Left earned UNITEC the “Best Tertiary Ensemble Award” and John Purcell Puleitu, Jeremiah Faitala & Leroy Lakamau’s The Remedy Collection aptly picked up the “Most Innovative Choreography” award.
Elsewhere in the production category, Eden Mulholland once again picked up a “Best Music” award for his sound score for Waiting For Violet, Cat Ruka’s satiric Playing Savage earned the “Best Production – Short Work”, Bubble won “Best Youth Production” and the spectacular outfits that featured in Birds Of Paradise earned Morag Magnolia Brown the “Best Costume Design – Most Spectacular”.
Monisha School of Dance performance item in The Kids Show was voted the “People’s Choice” for this year’s festival, while two young and talented dancer/choreographers were awarded “Spirit of the Festival 09”; Rosalie van Horik and Zahra Killeen-Chance. These two dancers epitomise what makes Tempo work really well as a local festival, they were a pleasure for everyone to work with and their hard work was a large part of what made Fresh Cuts such a huge success.
The Awards night rounded up Tempo 09 with a flourish and style that was indicative of the 09 programme, Artistic Director Mary -Jane O’Reilly stated – “I look forward to Tempo 10!”
A full list of winners appears below.
performance
Best Male Performer:
Gandalf Archer in UNDER THE INFLUENCE choreographed by TMC
Francis Christeller in SOMEBODY'S DARLING choreographed by Michael Parmenter (from Footnote Forte Solo Series 2009)
Justin Haiu in RESILIENCE choreographed by Justin Haiu (from Fresh Cuts)
Jeremy Poi in STEALTH choreographed by Ross McCormack (from Footnote Forte Solo Series 2009) AND
Simon Watts in UNDER THE INFLUENCE choreographed by TMC
Best Female Performer:
Carlie Angel in WAITING FOR VIOLET choreographed by Mia Mason (from Fresh Cuts)
Georgie Goater in BIRDS OF PARADISE choreographed by Morag Magnolia Brownlie
Antonia Hewett in THROUGH TO YOU choreographed by Andrew Simmons (Royal New Zealand Ballet, from Duets showcase)
Anita Hunziker in FIRECRACKER choreographed by Sarah Foster (from Footnote Forte Solo Series 2009)
Claire Lissaman in ADZE choreographed by Kristian Larsen (from Footnote Forte Solo Series 2009
Cat Ruka in PLAYING SAVAGE choreographed by Cat Ruka (from Late Show #2)
Filoi Vaila’au in FANUA choreographed by Sefa Enari (from Prime Cuts)
Most Inspiring Performance:
Justin Haiu in RESILIENCE choreographed by Justin Haiu (from Fresh Cuts)
Claire Lissaman in ADZE choreographed by Kristian Larsen (from Footnote Forte Solo Series 2009)
Cat Ruka in PLAYING SAVAGE choreographed by Cat Ruka (from Late Show #2)
Gabrielle Thomas in HAPU choreographed by Gabrielle Thomas (from Prime Cuts)
Best Tertiary Ensemble:
UNITEC – THOSE LEFT choreographed by Shona McCullagh (from Tertiary Colours)
CHOREOGRAPHY
Best Choreography by an Established Artist:
Soufiane Karim for JUMPERS (Posue Dance Company, from HOT showcase)
Kristian Larsen for ADZE (commissioned by Footnote Dance Company for Footnote Forte Solo Series 2009)
Ross McCormack for STEALTH (commissioned by Footnote Dance Company for Footnote Forte Solo Series 2009)/p>
Best Choreography by an Emerging Artist:
Richie Cesan for UNDER THE INFLUENCE…GETTING TO NEXT LEVEL
Justin Haiu for RESILIENCE (from Fresh Cuts)
Mia Mason for WAITING FOR VIOLET (from Fresh Cuts)
DZIAH 2.0 (Billie Paea, Wyllis Maihi, Wayde Webster, Anesi Fano and Eric Marsters) for DZIAH (from HOT showcase)
Gabrielle Thomas for HAPU (from Prime Cuts)
Most Innovative Choreography:
Anna Bate for SCORE (danced by Anna Bate and Marianna Rinaldi, from Prime Cuts)
Kristian Larsen for ADZE (danced by Claire Lissaman, from Footnote Forte Solo Series 2009)
John Purcell Puleitu & Jeremiah Faitala & Leroy Lakamau for THE REMEDY COLLECTION (danced by GHOST Dance Crew, from HOT showcase)
PRODUCTION
Best production - Short work:
EYE TO EYE by Backlit Productions (from Late Show #2)
GONNE STRANGE by Lyne Pringle and Kilda Northcott, BIPEDS Productions (from Late Show #1)
HAPU by Gabrielle Thomas (from Prime Cuts)
PLAYING SAVAGE by Cat Ruka (From Late Show #2)
Best production - Evening length work:
FOOTNOTE FORTE SOLO SERIES 2009 by Footnote Dance Company
UNDER THE INFLUENCE by TMC
Best Youth Production (Kids Show & Teen Show):
BUBBLE choreographed by Geordan Wilcox for Dance Unlimited, East Auckland Performing Arts (from The Teen Show)
GOOD SHIP LOLLIPOP choreographed by Heather Palmer for Mt Eden Ballet Academy (from The Kids Show)
NAISHO choreographed by Ichiro Harada for Dance Unlimited, East Auckland Performing Arts (from The Teen Show)
SIEMPRE SANTANA choreographed by Jacqui Cesan for The Dance Studio (from The Teen Show)
Best Music:
Jody Lloyd - music for STEALTH (Ross McCormack for Footnote Dance Company)
Eden Mulholland - music for STARK (Maria Dabrowska for Footnote Dance Company)
Eden Mulholland - music for WAITING FOR VIOLET (Mia Mason, from Fresh Cuts)
Paul Toilalo - music for RESILIENCE (Justin Haiu, from Fresh Cuts)
Best Scenography:
UNDER THE INFLUENCE by TMC
HAPU by Gabrielle Thomas (from Prime Cuts)
PLAYING SAVAGE by Cat Ruka (from Late Show #2)
TEXTURE by Melanie Turner (from Prime Cuts)
Best Costume Design - Most Effective:
SCORE - Anna Bate (from Prime Cuts)
SIEMPRE SANTANA - Jacquie Cesan, The Dance Studio (from The Teen Show)
Best Costume Design - Most Spectacular:
BIRDS OF PARADISE - Morag Magnolia Brownlie
NATRAJ DANCE - Monisha Kumar (from Sacred Dance)
Tempo 2009 Spirit of the Festival Award:
Rosalie van Horik and Zahra Killeen-Chance
Tempo 2009 People’s Choice Award:
Monisha School of Dance for Jai Ho (The Kids Show)
The Tempo awards Panel also acknowledged those who went above and beyond their way to make the festival the great experience it was: Diana Mailata, Sian Tucker, Ed Jenner, Mitchell Turei, Matt Gillanders, Kathrin Simon and the Tempo Volunteers (Elisabeth Degremont, Shannon O’Sullivan, Kerry Ann Stanton & Catherine Ockenden)