White Lie
Lies, Damn Lies, and Mathematics
1950s pulp erotica, dominoes, and the way people operate in layers of truth are the starting points for the physical movement in White Lie at Te Whaea Theatre from Tuesday 27 to Saturday 31 March (please note that the performance on Sunday 1 April has been cancelled).
White Lie is physical dance theatre devised and performed by second year acting students at Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School with assistance from performance design, entertainment technology, and performing arts management students. White Lie is choreographed and directed by freelance dancer, choreographer, and tutor Megan Adams.
| When: | 7.30pm, Tuesday 27 – Saturday 31 March |
| Where: | Te Whaea Theatre , 11 Hutchison Road, Newtown |
| Price: | $10 / $5 |
| Bookings: | 04 381 9253 (automated line) |
Megan Adams graduated from the New Zealand School of Dance in 1995 and has performed in the works of some of NZ’s best known choreographers including Ann Dewey, Sean Curham and Lisa Densem.
“One of my main interests in devising this show is looking at series, loops, formations and patterns,” said Megan. “I’m a maths geek – I did calculus by correspondence while I was at the School of Dance – so I’m basing a lot of the patterns of this show on domino sequences, where the dancers act as the spots on the dominos.”
“The music is being specially composed for White Lie by Lucien Johnson,” said Megan. “Lucien plays tenor sax, flute and organ. He’s a composer and improvisational musician and working with him is fabulous, because together we’re really looking at complex rhythm patterns that are moving people out of that NZ addiction to the traditional four-four time.”
Megan was the rehearsal director for Shona McCullagh's short film Break (2004) and worked with Douglas Wright as rehearsal director on Black Milk in 2006. Her most recent choreographic work was Rose Parade (2004), which, continuing the mathematical theme, was based on palindromes.
Melanie Firbank is a second year acting student but has spent most of her life as a dancer, in fact she was a student at the New Zealand School of Dance for a year before deciding she preferred acting.
“We spend lots of time exercising our bodies at Toi Whakaari,” said Melanie. “But dancing again is brilliant, especially because the emphasis on performance and emotion are so different coming from an actor’s perspective.”
Barnaby Fredric comes as a complete contrast to Melanie’s dance experience – he’d never had a dance lesson in his life before coming to Toi Whakaari.
“I actually got the ‘Un-co White Boy’ award last year,” said Barnaby. “It’s given to the guy with the least co-ordination and dance ability in the class, and I’m totally down with that. So, it’s great to be able to challenge myself this much – it’s my aim that nobody can tell that I’m kinda dance challenged by the time we get to the performances.
