Coming home through dance
LEFT TO RIGHT Moss Te Ururangi Patterson (Ngāti Tūwharetoa), artistic director of The New Zealand Dance Company (NZDC) and Ty King-Wall, artistic director of the Royal New Zealand Ballet (RNZB); RNZB artist Luke Cooper; Luke Cooper with artist Stella Clarkson (NZDC in partnership with NZSD). Photography by Ross Brown.
The Royal New Zealand Ballet’s ambitious new season Home, Land and Sea arrives at Christchurch’s Isaac Theatre Royal on 8–9 August, marking a bold moment in Aotearoa dance history.
At the centre of this landmark triple bill is Home, Land and Sea, a world premiere work created by Moss Te Ururangi Patterson (Ngāti Tūwharetoa), artistic director of The New Zealand Dance Company (NZDC). It’s the first time that the RNZB and NZDC have joined forces, with six dancers from each company weaving a story that is both ancient and immediate – a deeply felt meditation on identity, belonging, and the idea of tūrangawaewae.
Inspired by the shifting relationship between land and sea, Patterson’s choreography speaks from a place of cultural depth and lived experience. “Belonging isn’t fixed – it’s shaped by memory, politics, and history. I’ve spent over two decades exploring the intersections of te ao Māori and contemporary dance, drawing from my Ngāti Tūwharetoa roots to shape an aesthetic that fuses cultural forms with integrity and openness. This new work moves beyond that foundation to ask broader questions: Who are we now as a nation? Where have we come from? Where are we going?”
Set to an original score by legendary musician Shayne P Carter (Straitjacket Fits, Dimmer), the piece is both lyrical and unflinching – a new kind of ballet for a nation still negotiating its story. “The music has incredible mana,” says Patterson. “It becomes the heartbeat, driving us forward.”
RNZB artistic director Ty King-Wall calls the collaboration “a new chapter” for ballet in Aotearoa. “It’s about kotahitanga – unity and togetherness. It’s an honest, contemporary expression of who we are, and who we might become.”
The programme also features Chrysalis by RNZB’s Shaun James Kelly, which also explores transformation through the music of Philip Glass and with costumes by leading New Zealand designer Rory William Docherty, while The Way Alone is a contemplative Tchaikovsky-infused work by acclaimed choreographer Stephen Baynes.
“This season embodies all that we value at the RNZB: artistic risk-taking, cultural connection, and dance that really speaks to the contemporary New Zealand experience,” says King-Wall. “We’re creating a space where the work that we do pushes our boundaries, opens our minds, and defies expectations on what ballet is and what it can be.”