2006

In 2005 Mary Jane O’Reilly was appointed the new artistic director of Tempo, but because of the timing of this decision, the board of the ADFT postposed the festival until the following year. Sîan Tucker acted as assistant director, with new board members coming onto the ADFT, including Marama Lloyd, Mike Hodson, Ann Dewey and Frances Turner. A veteran dancer, choreographer and co-artistic director of Limbs Dance Company, O’Reilly’s first Tempo in 2006 reflected her eclectic tastes in dance, seen in performances of contemporary, hip-hop, burlesque, youth,World Dance, older particpants, Māori dance and showcases featuring emerging choreographers. Dance films were also showcased in two programmes; Reel Dance Award Finalists and Global Shorts. O’Reilly also instigated the Tempo Awards to ‘celebrate the success of this year’s festival’.

The festival again presented new works from Atamira Dance Collective, Raewyn Hill, Pointy Dog (whose members included teenagers Rose Philpott and Sofia McIntyre), Kanan Deobhakta Dance Co, Boyzdance 2, and Company Z, led by Timothy Gordon, while new productions, including the World Dance Showcase, and a Burlesque cabaret featuring Ms Fortuna, both proving very popular. Working in partnership with Tempo, a variety of venues across the city hosted a range of events, from a Salsa competition at the Town Hall, to Boyzdance and Friends at the Centennial Theatre at Auckland Boys Grammar, films shown at Galatos off K’Road, to Peter and the Wolf by Company Z at the TAPAC Theatre, which this year became the official ‘home’ for Tempo.

Performances from local tertiary institution’s dance programmes included AUT and Te Wananga o Aotearoa students. Two choreographic showcases at the TAPAC theatre presented short works from a range of both established and emerging dance artists, including Emilia Rubio, Moana Nepia, Poyema Dance Company, Bronwyn Hayward, Torotoro Dance Company, Touch Compass and the co-founder of Limbs Dance Company, Chris Jannides. Bipeds Productions, consisting of Lyne Pringle and Kilda Northcott, presented Fishnet, also at TAPAC. Fuzzy Reception, from Back-Lit Productions, offered late night shows at TAPAC. Made up of twelve dance artists, all Unitec graduates, Fuzzy Reception included works by choreographers Georgie Goater, Tracey Purcell, Janine Parkes, and Colette Arnold, spanning the gamut from set improvisations, ‘self-examination of darker aspects of self ’ to a look at the jobs dancers must do to make ends meet.

Non-performance events included a photo exhibition by Ruth Ames, a Somatic Clinic, including sessions in yoga, massage and aromatherapy conducted by Felicity Molloy and a workshop for dance writers, Sharpen Your Opinion, led by Raewyn Whyte.