2026 PERFORMANCE PROGRAMME
mata mata
MATA MATA is a solo dance offering—an ancestral summoning. From the depths of the awa, the taniwha rises. The Atua stir. Memory drips from skin into the whenua. Guided by the mana of blood memory, MATA MATA becomes a ritual of returning, where physical body and movement conjures spirit, and the unseen becomes seen.
a person shaped thing
A Person Shaped Thing is a new solo contemporary dance work by Trinity Maydon, exploring the fragile architecture of Self Perception/Presentation - the process of strategically concealing or revealing information in order to influence others' and our own perceptions on ourselves. Even the person you believe yourself to be only exists for you.
FEVER|DREAM
BCA presents FEVER|DREAM, a fresh programme of dance and music featuring four newly created works. This mixed bill takes audiences on a journey from intense, feverish moments to dreamlike states, reflecting on today's fast-paced life and the subconscious ways we process ourselves and our experiences within it.
Note to Self - 3rd Year NZSD Choreographic Season 2026
NOTE TO SELF is a full-length choreographed performance, created from original short works, devised by NZSD 3rd-year contemporary dance students. Each work has been independently created, then thoughtfully woven together to form one shared performance experience.
Together, these works sit inside the tender and uneasy space of being seen. They ask what it means to be viewed, to be perceived, and how that gaze can shape, distort, reveal, or challenge our sense of self. The season explores the body not simply as something to look at, but as something that knows, remembers, senses, absorbs, and reveals.
Running through the work is a deep humanness - vulnerability, discomfort, identity, observation and the quiet negotiation between who we are privately and who we become when witnessed.
EVENTS
open dance
An open invitation to participate, witness and begin the festival together.
The Pōneke Festival of Contemporary Dance opens with a collective gathering of movement at The Hannah Playhouse.
This improvised movement sharing brings together dancers, artists and movement practitioners from across Pōneke. Part performance, part meeting place, this open event celebrates coming together through movement, participation and exchange. Audiences are welcome to witness the unfolding improvisation, or join the space themselves.
Featuring live music from Dream Chambers.
Free to participate. Free to attend.
debate - process vs product
When creating art, is the process more important than the product - or the product more important than the process? In this lively debate, local Wellington artists go head to head on a question that often plagues the creative mind. Expect diverse perspectives and a few friendly disagreements.
Stick around after the debate for an informal industry networking evening.
This is a free event.
dance on screen film competition
Grab a team, grab a camera, and get moving. We want to see you explore the art of dance through the lens and on the big screen. Whether you’re lo-fi or tech savvy, this film competition welcomes you (as long as there’s dance!). Come along to the screening and awards night on the closing night of the festival.
THE AFTER PARTY
After dark, the party begins. A curated celebration to end the festival with bang.
Featuring performance from Hannah Tasker-Poland and DJ set from HOMINID, let’s turn the Hannah Playhouse into a dancefloor.
residency showings
Come get a taste of what the artists in residence have been up to over the week of the festival.
This is a free event.
2025 Performance Seasons
2024 Performance Seasons
