Rotunda features the powerful collision of a live brass band with fervent NZ dance. Created by the company’s Artistic Director and Arts Laureate Shona McCullagh, in collaboration with the NZDC dancers, musician Chris O’Connor and celebrated singer, songwriter, composer and fellow Laureate Don McGlashan as Musical Director, Rotunda brings to life the world of the band rotunda as an iconic symbol of New Zealand community. In Holland, we collaborated with Brass Band Rijnmond who played the score for three shows at the Theatre Spui in Den Haag and for one night only at the beautiful Stadsschowberg Theatre in Amsterdam. The tour received a four-star review and standing ovations at every show.
Invited to the Holland Dance Festival in February 2014, Rotunda received 4 star reviews and standing ovations at every performance. Rotunda brings to life the world of the band rotunda, an iconic symbol of early 20th Century community, where we rekindle memories of loss and love in a haunting snapshot of Australasian history.
Rotunda draws from the extraordinary courage and indomitable spirit of our ANZAC men, and the women who set about running the country with aching hearts and dread that their men might not return. Renowned for its earthiness, physicality, rhythm and expression this unmistakably New Zealand choreography integrates shadow play, mace twirling, a Brass band, and a fusion of waiata with dynamic contemporary dance theatre.
The New Zealand Dance Company completed a sweeping Australasian tour, performing Rotunda in Tauranga, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, Auckland, Adelaide, Melbourne, Parramatta and Geelong.
