The House | The House of Alexander
The House to me spoke to Pasifika and Asian communities and the need for the creation of contemporary rituals, spaces and practice. Culture is a living thing. We need to evolve with the time and the needs of our people. In The House their cultural pride is on their sleeves and smiles, even from members who have been ousted by their families, still respectful of their roots. Work like this gives permission for all diaspora queer folk to know and believe that culture, gender and sexuality need not be mutually exclusive and can exist together in harmony, even in excellence.
Demolition | Polytoxic
This work left me feeling seen on so many levels - as a Queer non-binary person struggling to fit the status quo, as a Maori woman who wasn’t raised on her Marae or Ancestral lands, as a Mother realising the importance of embracing culture for your children’s future, as a woman being surrounded by the constant pressures of living up to the patriarchal structure and never feeling good enough. I felt uplifted, hopeful, powerful and full of rage.
Betwixt | Pink Matter
Betwixt invited the audience into the ‘In Between’: a space where words connected to movements and movements connected to music to tell unfinished stories to unsuspecting listeners. Through an enthralling combination of spoken-word poetry and dance, Pink Matter produced a fresh storytelling experience that pulled at the heart and compelled the mind.