“Choreographically and visually satisfying, it also stimulates intellectually”
– Ann Hunt, Capital Times

Interweaving movement, music and moving image, Body/Fight/Time is a large-scale full-length dance piece created by Malia Johnston and Emma Willis in collaboration with Footnote Dance. Starting from ideas of the body under attack, the work playfully explores images of collision, impact and conflict. By various turns absurd, moving and exposed, the work is an engaging look at how our bodies define us.

The cast of Body/Fight/Time was an eclectic mix of some of the most interesting dancers performing across the country, ranging in experience and age from a New Zealand School of Dance student to seasoned veteran and NZ dance icon Kilda Northcote.

Body/Fight/Time employed the motif of the body and its shadow to explore physical and psychological conflict at an abstract level.  The ensemble performance used flighting as the basis for the work’s choreography, which featured movement patterns abstracted from gestures of kicking, striking, jumping and evading. The work’s scenes collapsed the distinction between inner and outer violence and explored the interconnectedness of violence between individuals and groups.

Choreography and Direction: Malia Johnston
Dramaturgy and Co-Direction: Emma Willis
Producer: Adrianne Roberts for SHOW PONY Performers and Co-Creators: Mariana Rinaldi, Kilda Northcote, Paul Young, Francis Christeller, Lucy Marinkovich, Emily Adams, Olivia McGregor, Emmanuel Reynaud, Carl Tolentino with contributions from Josh Rutter, Natalie Hona, Jingwen Xu, Alice Macann
Composer: Eden Mulholland
Set Design: John Verryt
AV Design: Rowan Pierce
Lighting Design: Brad Gledhill
Marketing Photography: Robin Kerr
Performance/Rehearsal Photography: Philip Merry

Body/Fight/Time was made possible by the support of Creative New Zealand funding.