Outstanding acts keep raising the bar

Wānaka’s 11th Festival of Colour has continued to raise the bar for lovers of the arts.

Artistic director Sophie Kelly has again curated a wide variety of outstanding acts, providing laughter, tears, astonishment and surprises, just as any good festival should. Here are some of the shows that impressed this year.

Festival opener Cirque Alfonse’s Animal promised breathtaking acrobatics, music and fun and delivered in spades.

It was clever, original, and particularly terrifying if you were in the first few rows, well within falling distance if things went wrong. We definitely need a bigger stage than the Lake Wānaka Centre can provide.

A dream team of BalletCollective Aotearoa and NZTrio would also have benefited from more space for the exquisitely performed Subtle Dances, delicate contemporary pieces interspersed with the trio’s equally sublime playing.

It was wonderful to see them together, but probably even better less cramped.

Dance fans did well this year, with a promising opener from the locally-based Fantail Creative’s Foundations and then Movement of the Human’s wandering Torua.

Malia Johnston’s highly experienced dancers took us on a memorable tour of central Wānaka — becoming my pick of the dance offerings for its innovation, skills and downright charm.

Theatre bravely tackled difficult subjects: dementia in In Other Words — a master class from acting royalty Jennifer Ward-Lealand and Michael Hurst — and then ADHD from the irrepressible force that is Jo Randerson in Speed is Emotional. The sustained intensity of both shows saw a few walkouts when the mixture of sadness and vulnerability outweighed the flashes of humour so necessary to cope with changing lives. But both were also full of wisdom, respect and caring.

Other acts addressed difficulties of cultural cringe and racial injustice.

Rutene Spooner’s affectionate but questioning show Be Like Billy? investigated the history and relevance of Maori entertainers, and Upu presented an increasingly devastating hour of spoken words addressing a long list of subjects foremost in the minds of islanders across the Pacific.

Exceptional lighting was amazingly effective as the only support for Upu’s six actors who recited works about climate change, family, love and sex, religion and colonisation, power struggles and something we can fully appreciate in Wānaka — toxic tourism. Passionate, moving, and not without a funny side.

On a lighter note, Wilson Dixon’s country cowboy character gave us deadpan comedy by mining the absurdity in everyday life in Love Don’t Live Here Anymore, You Do. An unexpected gem.

Best cabaret for me was An Evening Without Kate Bush. Sarah-Louise Young’s show for Bush fans was a perfect professional performance. Brava.

There was a good mix of old and new for music fans.

Finn Andrews’ The Veils have been around for decades but treated Pacific Crystal Palace to several new songs, highlighting how this versatile band keeps coming up with fresh ideas.

Classically trained Chinese-Pakeha sisters Ersha Island may be comparatively new, but wowed a highly appreciative audience with a brilliant set of their own cross-cultural music. A winning combination to watch out for.

But Revulva rocking the last night at Pacific Crystal Palace takes out my best music show for the feel-good farewell of the festival. Great lyrics, great characters, great performers, great jazz, great fun. Pure joy.

After reviewing 11 Wānaka festivals since 2005, they keep getting better. But there is one problem beyond the festival’s control.

The acts get bigger, the audiences turn up, but it’s getting harder to find venues suitable for them. Wānaka really does need a bigger stage and a performing arts centre to house it. Are you listening QLDC?

— Nigel Zega