2011 saw Tempo transition from its home at TAPAC in Western Springs to the newly opened Q Theatre on Q Street in central city Auckland. With this change also came a shorter festival; from up to a month of events in past years to just nine days. However, the two available performing spaces at Q (the Rangatira auditorium and the smaller Loft space) meant that there was always something on offer. The welcoming bar and restaurant space at Q also encouraged gatherings and lively discussion in between performances, adding to the festival atmosphere.

Full length works in 2011 included Shine Lady by Ann Dewey and Spinning Sun (Liz Kirk, Liana Yew, Julie van Renen), Body/Fight/Time by Malia Johnston, Footnote’s Hulla-Polloi by Kate McIntosh and Jo Randerson, Girl With a Movie Camera by Jennifer Nikolai and Southern Lights Dance Company from Christchurch. Two performances came with warnings of ‘nudity and adult themes’: Mary Jane O’Reilly’s In Flagrante and Alexa Wilson’s Weg: A-Way. An interdisciplinary assortment of dancers came under the banner of Shameless Crowd Pleaser, including Julia Milsom, Josh Rutter and Georgie Goater, musicians and sound artists John Bell, Paul Buckton and Bonehead and visual artist John Radford led by Kristian Larsen, presenting an evening of improvisation in the Loft. Perennial Tempo favourites the Teen Show and the Kids Show, Tertiary Colours, Out of the Box, Y Chromozone were joined by a new addtion; Tuakana. This showcase of short works by Māori contemporary and traditional artists opened the festival.

The Prime Cuts programme this year included works by Sarah Foster-Sproull, Cat Ruka, Mia Mason, and Antje Pfundtner. Ruka joined with Josh Rutter in New Treaty Militia, a work consisting of improvisation, text, and stacks of yellow telephone directories. Foster-Sproull contribution to Prime consisted of performing (in Mason’s work Brunhilde Observing Gunther, Whom She Has Tied to the Ceiling) and choreography for students of the NZ School of Dance, Tragic Best. Soloist Francis Christeller performed Pfundtner’s There There. Famed ballerina and ballet teacher Dorothea Ashbridge was the focus of Honouring a Dancer in 2011.