(Ngāti Pākehā. He uri no Kōtirangi, Aerana, Ingarani)
Rowan is an award-winning performance designer who produces and exhibits work across a range of mediums including live performance, film, visual arts and music. In live performance Rowan has an exceptional ability to create visceral and immersive environments using a multi-disciplinary approach to spatial and performance design. Synthesising video, sound, light and object seamlessly to create impactful and affecting works that not only have a visual impact but also impact physically on the viewer generating a sense of immersion.
Currently working alongside Bianca Hyslop (Te Arawa, Ngāti Whakaue, Tūhourangi-Wāhiao, Pākehā) this collaborative partnership is self-produced and together the pair create work that pushes beyond any one form of performing arts practice. Their approach to their work is in creating performance and arts experiences that utilising mediums including movement, sound, spatial/object design and beyond. This results in a universal performative language that defies genres and opens live performance experience to new and broader audiences.
Bianca and Rowan are practitioners at the forefront of their respective fields of contemporary dance/movement and performance design/live art. Both artists have extensive experience and have gained success working independently as well as with top performing arts companies in Aotearoa and abroad.
Rowan is an award-winning performance designer who produces and exhibits work across a range of mediums including live performance, film music and the visual arts. In live performance Rowan has an exceptional ability to create visceral and immersive environments using a multi-disciplinary approach to spatial and performance design. Synthesszing video, sound, light and object seamlessly to create impactful and affecting works that not only have a visual impact but also impact physically on the viewer generating a sense of immersion.
Organisation/Company
Name: Bianca Hyslop and Rowan Pierce
My Role: Producer/Designer
Bianca Hyslop and award winning artist Rowan Pierce are practitioners at the forefront of their respective fields of contemporary dance/movement and performance design/live art. Based in Aotearoa/New Zealand, both artists have extensive experience and have gained success working independently as well as with top performing arts companies in Aotearoa and abroad. Companies include Atamira Dance Company, Movement of The Human, New Zealand Dance Company, Okareka Dance Company and World of Wearable Arts.
This collaborative partnership is self-produced and together the pair create work that pushes beyond any one form of performing arts practice. Their work is an immersive performance experience that utilises various forms of story
telling including image, movement, sound, spatial/object design and beyond. This results in a universal performative language that defies genres and opens live performance experience to new and broader audiences.
Iwi affiliation
Ngāti Pākehā. He uri no Kōtirangi, Aerana, Ingarani.
Pōhutu
Artform: Inter-Arts/Dance
Development Status: Tour Ready
Pitch Video
Media Uploads
Trailer
Synopsis
Tēnei mea te mau mahara, he taonga. He taonga hoki te wareware i ōna wā. Heoi anō, ko tēnei whakaaturanga, he mea whakaatu i ngā whakaaro o tētehi kuia e mate ana i te mate wareware, kua hāhā katoa tōna rua mahara. Ko te kuia nei, ko Ramari Rangiwhiua Morrison (Ginger).
Ko tāna mokopuna te kaiwhakahaere i te whakaaturanga nei, Ko Bianca Hyslop tōna ingoa, he uri nō Te Arawa otirā he tohunga ki āna mahi. E mahi tahi ana rāua ko Rowan Pierce. He whakaaturanga kanikani, otirā he mea āta ruku ki ngā korero mō mau-mahara, mō te mamae mokemoke, me te hononga o ērā mea e rua ki te whenua.
Pōhutu is an ode to the human experience navigating the ever shifting nature of memory, time, place and loss.
This high-impact performance is a powerful collaboration between choreographer Bianca Hyslop (Te Arawa, Ngāti Whakaue, Tūhourangi-Ngāti Wāhiao) and multi-award winning performance designer and artist Rowan Pierce.
Bianca’s grandmother, Ramari Rangiwhiua Haslem nee. Morrison (Ginger) sits at the heart of this narrative, reflecting her life’s stories and connection to her ancestral whenua.
Pōhutu artfully incorporates image, movement, and sound to mirror Ginger's shapeshifting mind as she grapples with memory loss. All the while, we experience the ever-changing landscape of Whakarewarewa - Ginger’s birthplace and home to the southern hemisphere’s largest geyser: Pōhutu
Creative Team and Crew
Director/Choreographer/Performer: Bianca Hyslop
Director/Designer: Rowan Pierce
Mātanga Mātauranga Māori: Tūī Matira Ranapiri-Ransfield
Costume Design: Emma Ransley
Performer: Samara Reweti
Co-Devisor: Rosie Tapsell
Many thanks to: Kelly Nash, Nancy Wijohn, Daniel Cooper, Matiu Hamuera, Atamira Dance Company, Kia Mau Festival.
Number of People in the Touring Party
6
Previous Seasons
Kia Mau Festival (2019)
Tempo Dance Festival, NZ (2019)
Te Raukura ki Kāpiti (2022)
Pōhutu was programmed to be part of the Aotearoa New Zealand Festival 2022 program but was cancelled due to covid gathering restrictions.
Reviews and Quotes
“Pohutu is astonishing. Not astonishing in the hyperbolic sense but in a my-heart-is-retreating-further-into-my-chest sense of the word.”
- Pantograph Punch
“This mesmerising performance was unwavering in its Māori voice, perspective and integrity. The applause erupted like a geyser.”
- Dance Aotearoa New Zealand
Pōhutu is a dance work that will continue to live in the minds of those who witness it for a long time ...It is simply stunning
- Theatreview.co.nz
Technical Rider & International Touring Info (if applicable)
He Huia Kaimanawa
Artform: Dnce/Inter-Arts
Development Status: Premiering at Auckland Arts Festival 2023 this work will be tour-ready with relevant documentation following this season.
Media Uploads
Trailer
Synopsis
Te Reo Māori
He whakaaroha, ā, he kōtuinga tairongo o te nukuhanga, o te reo, o te whaitua me ngā hangarau mariko.
He mea huataki e Bianca Hyslop, kaitito nekehanga, rāua ko Rowan Pierce, kaihoahoa, a He Huia Kaimanawa. He whakaari mataora e urupare ana i te maieatanga, te tūhuratanga me te whakamānawatanga o te Reo Māori.
Ka titiro whakamuri ki ō mua rā me te kauneke whakamua ki te āpōpō, ā, ka puea ake i te whakaari ēnei mea te rirohanga me te whakahokinga, waihoki, he whakanui i te mahi a te tini nāna i para te huarahi e ora tonu ai te Reo Rangatira.
He whakamātakitaki tū ana te ihi, hītaratara ana te kiri a He Huia Kaimanawa, ka mutu, he toronga nō te whatumanawa rawa ki te whakaūkaipō anō i te reo i riro.
English
A poignant and affecting synergy of movement, voice, spatial design and virtual technologies.
Initiated by choreographer Bianca Hyslop and designer Rowan Pierce, He Huia Kaimanawa is a new performance experience that responds to the resurfacing, reclaiming and honoring of Te Reo Māori.
Through the gathering of real life stories it confronts accounts of loss and reclamation that are shared by so many across Aotearoa. These accounts are deeply resonant for all who call Aotearoa home.
Looking to the past as we move into the future, the work brings to light these stories of loss and reclamation while celebrating the work of the many who have carved the path for the ongoing revitalisation of Te Reo Rangatira.
Presented as a series of imagined realities, He Huia Kaimanawa brings into focus the importance and challenges this revitalisation process is facing in an increasingly virtual world.
Visually potent and experientially impactful, it is a visceral exploration of learning Te Reo Māori as second language learners.
Creative Team and Crew
Co-Director/Choreographer: Bianca Hyslop
Co-Director/Designer: Rowan Pierce
Mātanga Matauranga Māori/Co-devisor/Composer/Performer: Tūī Matira Ranapiri-Ransfield
Co-devisor/Performer/Choreographic mentorship: Kelly Nash
Co-devisor/Performer: Nancy Wijohn
Co-devisor/Performer: Samara Te Aniwa Reweti
Co-devisor/Performer: Arohanui Watene
Stage Management/Production Assistance: Lucie Camp
Stage Manager: Maaka Pepene
Operator: Bekky Boyce
Tāmariki: Performers
Mihimarino Walker
Ngāti Porou (Te Whanau a Ruataupare ki Tūpāroa, Ngāti Rangi)
Rerekohu Wikingi
Ngati Kahungunu, Te Arawa
Lila Porteners
Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Ngāti Koata, Ngai Tahu, Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa, Ngāti Ranginui (Pirirākau)
Number of People in the Touring Party
7-10 depending on presentation method.
Previous Seasons
Auckland Arts Festival 2023 (Premiere)
Future Seasons:
Kia Mau Festival June 2023
The Performing Arts Network of New Zealand (PANNZ) Arts Market is New Zealand's premiere event for artists, producers, presenters and industry leaders from across the performing arts sector.
The Performing Arts Network of New Zealand (PANNZ) Arts Market is New Zealand's premiere event for artists, producers, presenters and industry leaders from across the performing arts sector.