Limbs Dance Company: Dance For All People, 1977-1989
Through photographs, interviews, and reviews Limbs Dance Company: Dance For All People, 1977-1989 tells the story of Limbs, from their first public performance in Auckland in May 1977, to the last shows in Wellington in the winter of 1989.
In January 1977, a group of young artists met at the Rongomaraeroa Marae in the Hawkes Bay settlement at Porangahau, convened by Gaylene Sciascia, to ‘share, talk, dream…hoping to put dance first and individual egos second.’ Bathed in sunlight and lashed by wind, the dancers dreamed of contributing to the ‘dynamic, spiritual, creative growth of dance in Aotearoa’ over ten days of classes, rehearsals, swims, late-night food and korero.
Forty years later, the legacy of that unique gathering is evident in the plethora of dance made in New Zealand across a range of genres, techniques and cultures. Notably, one of New Zealand’s most influential popular performing arts group of the twentieth century, Limbs Dance Company, emerged from this idyllic summer gathering. Ranging from comic, short dances such as Watch It Buddy, to the 70 minute Now is the Hour, the works described in Limbs Dance Company: Dance For All People 1977-1989 tell the story of New Zealand growing from adolescence to adulthood.
With the advent of Limbs in 1977, the language of movement in New Zealand changed inextricably, expanding and exploding the definition of dance from this small South Pacific nation. Fundamentally, the founding members of Limbs believed that dance could reflect common human issues and emotions and was capable of touching people from all walks of life. With this belief, they made dances that were simultaneously relevant, challenging, sexy, serious, fun and exciting. These core beliefs and means of expression continued over twelve years as new artistic directors, choreographers, dancers and management upheld the passion and innovation of the founding members of Limbs.
Limbs dances both reflected and shaped the zeitgeist of 1970 - 1980s New Zealand. Such a wide array of dances not only entertained and excited the general public, but also inspired other choreographers and artists from different fields to explore their own artistic voices.
Spanning years of political protests and economic reforms, the works that Limbs presented in this time period and their performance settings - large music festivals, prisons and opera houses - reflect the changing nature of New Zealand society. This unique history is a record of New Zealand seen through the lens of dance.
As Simon Wilson comments in his Forward: ‘They were serious and comic, physically daring, shockingly sexy, innovative, political, beautiful of course, and so skilled. They were Limbs. They changed our culture. Marianne Schultz was there, and in her book, written with great affection, insight and critical inquiry, she tells us all about it.’
Reviews
‘If I had to choose one highlight, it would be the lucid and evocative description of the works embellished by the incorporation of choreographers’ and dancers’ commentary. Dance historians, practicing and former dancers will resonate with much of this story and will find a full appendix of the Repertoire and cast listings at the end. In writing this book Schultz has utilized all of her skills as both a dancer, critical thinker and historian to create a compelling text that is suitable for the layperson and academic alike.’
Ali East,Dance Research (UK) review, 2018
‘Schultz was a part of the dance scene so her observations are more than that of a historian, giving the book a crisp front row quality. She intersperses chapters with ‘SPOTLIGHT’ chapters describing specific dances in detail which I enjoyed. Having read Douglas Wright’s book Ghost Dance, it was super to have more information on some of his work. A great read, and an important social document for this country.’
Caroline Barron, Good Reads
Performing Indigenous Culture on Stage and screen:A Harmony of Frenzy
Examining corporeal expressions of indigenousness from an historical perspective, this book highlights the development of cultural hybridity in New Zealand via the popular performing arts, contributing new understandings of racial, ethnic, and gender identities through performance. The author offers an insightful and welcome examination of New Zealand performing arts via case studies of drama, music, and dance, performed both domestically and internationally. As these examples show, notions of modern New Zealand were shaped and understood in the creation and reception of popular culture. Highlighting embodied indigenous cultures of the past provides a new interpretation of the development of New Zealand's cultural history and adds an unexplored dimension in understanding the relationships between Māori and Pākehā throughout the late nineteenth and into the early twentieth centuries.
Reviews
‘Marianne Schultz has excavated a fascinating archive that makes an important contribution to our understanding of New Zealand’s performing arts history. The strength of this book lies in the detailed archival research that underpins these studies and that serves as a valuable foundation for further scholarship. Performing Indigenous Culture will be useful for students and scholars of colonial-era performance, cross-cultural performance, New Zealand history and, the operation of performance in the global nineteenth century’
New Theatre Quarterly, issue 34, vol 4, 2018
‘Schultz offers an original and cogent thesis on some of the inordinate complexities of culture, identity and (mis)representations of ‘national’ and indigenous identity construction within the performing arts sector. There is much to delight in Schultz’s work. Historians looking for exemplars of how to articulate contextual complexities while keeping the centrality of the subject matter, for example, could learn from Schultz’s considerations of the roles entertainment, (soft) diplomacy played in New Zealand and British imperial relations during the early twentieth century. Schultz’s analysis is as comprehensive as it is impressive. Schultz’s book is a valuable contribution that should further stir our collective intrigue with body knowledge, ideology and politics. ’
Dance Research, issue 36, vol 1, 2018
A collection of essays, selected from an international writing competition for writers over the age of 60. My essay delves into my experience with divorce and rebuilding a life at this time of life. https://exislepublishing.com/
Staging the Other in Nineteenth-Century British Drama
Edited By Tiziana Morosetti
The body of the «Other» – exotic, unfamiliar, fascinating – is the topic of this collection of essays on nineteenth-century British theatre. Arranged chronologically, the volume traces visual representations of the Other across the nineteenth century as well as their legacy in contemporary theatrical culture. Essays explore the concept, politics and aesthetic features of the «exotic» body on stage, be it the actual body of the actor or actress, or the fictional, «picturesque» bodies brought on stage. Far from focusing exclusively on the subaltern, colonial subject, this volume addresses the Other in its wider meaning, focusing on case studies as famous as Edwin Forrest and Ira Aldridge or as neglected as that of the Māori who appeared on the London stage in the 1860s. Written by an international group of scholars, this collection offers an informed, updated insight into the extensive and multifaceted presence of the non-British in both Georgian and Victorian drama, investigated through new lenses and materials to shed light on the complex engagement of nineteenth-century British culture with alterity.
WINNER: Mander Jones Award, 2022.
Judges Comments: ‘ The nine chapters in this scholarly and well-researched volume combine specificity and theory as they introduce the reader to creative and scholarly work in ethnomusicology, dance and the archives of performance.
The case study descriptions of working with Aboriginal community members on traditional music are fascinating and encouraging examples of working inclusively and developing archival knowledge in co-operation with traditional owners.
The questioning and examination of past practices of custodianship, arrangement, and description contribute considerably to decolonising the archives.
REVIEWS: ‘ Music, Dance and the Archive makes significant new contributions to understanding the broader cultural and artistic potential embedded within archival resources. Readers will find that Music, Dance and the Archive offers new critical and innovative creative work with archival collections, and that the book carries forward our understandings of historical materials into new fascinating directions. In total the nine chapters offer eclectic yet compelling accounts about the cultural and artistic potential for archival resources in the creation of new knowledge and experiences.’ Yearbook for Traditional Music, 2024, pp. 1-3.