Koolish Zein
Te Auaha, Tapere Nui, 65 Dixon Street, Te Aro, Wellington
02/07/2025 - 03/07/2025
Pōneke Festival of Contemporary Dance 2025
Production Details
BalletCollective Aotearoa & Naoto Segawa
Music John Psathas
BalletCollective Aotearoa
“Koolish Zein” Leto said, voice soft. “This is all the good we may ever have”! – from Frank Herberts ‘Dune’ series.
This collaboration between percussionist Naoto Segato and BalletCollective Aotearoa brings the futuristic sounds of John Psathas into a more visual space. It looks at a changing world order, explores an imagined future and challenges us to query the hope of a better world – is ‘this all the good we may ever have’?
The BalletCollective Aotearoa is a new project-based contemporary ballet company, made up of some of New Zealand’s leading professional ballet dancers, exciting young graduates and student dancers seconded from the New Zealand School of Dance.
Tapere Nui, Te Auaha
2 – 3 July 2025
“Koolish Zein” the music, is an orchestra-less concerto written by John Psathas for Michael Burritt. In place of the symphony orchestra is a percussion quartet and a track of richly layered audio. The soloist is the storyteller from start to finish, navigating an ever-changing terrain of dynamic textures and grooves. The three parts of Koolish Zein each look to evoke resonances of an imagined future.
Her Alchemy emerges from women’s voices transformed digitally within the software Alchemy.
London Busking 2149 imagines what it might be like busking at Trafalgar Square some 125 years from now, evoked with the sound of flying vehicles coming and going, the loose quality of the music, and a duet with a passing robotic improvisor.
The up-tempo Trimetrical Hub (an anagram of Michael Burritt) begins in a Macedonian dance rhythm of 17/8 (4+6+7) and eventually transforms into a high-spirited groove inspired by a 6/8 Moroccan wedding dance.
Lighting Janis Cheng
Sound/Projection Caleb Grainger
Stage Manager Elora Battah
Mentacide
Choreography Joshua Linkhorn in collaboration with Callum Phipps
Dancers Joshua Linkhorn and Callum Phipps
Atalanta
Choreography Callum Phipps
Dancers Zoe White, Kyoka Takahashi, Ruby Clarke, James Burchell, Joshua Linkhorn
Towards Midnight
Kaiko Sarah Holswich
Dance Direction Brigitte Knight, Elora Battah
Dancers Ashley Baysa, Ava Collins, Toby Cotton, Liyah Devine, Siena Howard, Chylah Kumar, Caroline Murray, Mata Robati, Mia Ward, Justin Windley
Relentless
Collaboration/Dancers Zoe White, Kyoka Takahashi, Ruby Burke, James Bushell, Joshua Linkhorn, Callum Phipps
Koolish Zein
Choreography Zoe White, Callum Phipps
Dancers Zoe White, Callum Phipps with Kyoka Takahashi, Ruby Burke, James Bushell, Joshua Linkhorn
Dance , Contemporary Ballet , Music ,
60mins
Forging vibrant collaborations and captivating performances.
Review by Sarah George 05th Jul 2025
Aotearoa Ballet Collective’s Koolish Zein is a generous and compelling evening of dance, offering audiences a rare chance to witness fresh choreographic works shaped by classical technique. Five distinct pieces make up the programme, curated around a selection of compositions from renowned Wellington composer John Psathas.
The night opens with Mentacide, a taut piece grappling with psychological captivity. Joshua Linkhorn and Callum Phipps interplay solos and duos dressed in a hoodie, the universal clothing item of Gen Z, as the vehicle for their interaction. It’s a great start to the show, with jarring music driving their sweeping movements and partnering.
Atalanta follows, drawing inspiration from myth yet reimagined through a modern lens. The choreography shimmers with fast footwork and daring lifts, suggesting both the power and speed of the huntress. A highlight is the playful mash-up of movements and the plucking of imaginary golden apples from Atalanta’s story. Kyoka Takahashi shines.
One of the evening’s standout moments arrives with Towards Midnight, performed by a vibrant ensemble of Tawa College dancers to the backdrop of Infinite Mind, which features Noam Chomsky’s voice recounting the dire threats to humanity and the Doomsday Clock. Their youth and innocence add a layer of dread, yet these young dancers embody hope, resilience, and possibility. Bravo!
Relentless is exactly what its name suggests—a short but powerful piece highlighting the plight of women over decades, which continues today. The three women are fierce and passionate about the message, ably supported by the men.
The evening culminates with the title work, Koolish Zein, in which Zoe White delivers a captivating solo performance that builds from introspective, robotic movements into a frenetic, swirling crescendo. Her dancing is both precise and free, with a lightness that belies the complexity of the choreography.
The ultimate star of the evening was Naoto Segawa’s performance of John Psathas’ music. Playing several different percussion instruments across the evening, his patterns and textures thread through the dancers’ bodies like rippling water.
Overall, Koolish Zein is a triumph for Aotearoa Ballet Collective, who continue to forge an important pathway for both dancers and audiences eager to see classical dance in more accessible formats. Congratulations to Turid Revfeim and co. for their tireless efforts in keeping this alive.
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