Kia Hiwa Rā! As part of the He Toi Hou programme at Kia Mau Festival 2025, Shifting Centre’s The Circle is a vibrant movement piece that offers a stirring exploration of liberation, support and celebration. Directed by Sefa Tunupopo, the piece captures the complexities of collective care without ever uttering a word — letting the language of movement do all the talking.

Set in a stylised bare stage, The Circle follows a community of characters as they move through a shared present. There is no dialogue, no narration — just a full-bodied expression of emotion, struggle and joy told entirely through choreography. It is electrifying and engaging!

The cast — Oto Lupo, Kōwhai Deuchars, Sahara Hanipale, Kaysee Savali, Levi Siaosi and Montell Nickel — are magnetic. Their movement vocabulary ranges from explosive and athletic to intricate and intimate, often shifting within a single scene. At times, the stage bursts with kinetic energy so infectious it makes you want to leap out of your seat and join them. These high-tempo sequences pulse with joy and freedom, turning the stage into a living, breathing celebration.

But The Circle also knows how to slow down. There are deliberate, quiet moments which forces the audience to pause and witness. These scenes act like exhalations: still, tender and necessary. They ask us not just to watch but to listen with our whole bodies. In these moments, the choreography becomes meditation — on grief, on hope, on what it means to be held.

The design elements uplift and enhance the choreography. Lighting designer Isadora Lao shapes the space shifting between saturated washes and stark shadows that echo the emotional rhythm of the work. The lighting moves like breath across the bodies, illuminating not just the dancers but the feeling of each moment. The sound design, by Levi Siaosi, Montell Nickel and Grayson Ziogas, complements this beautifully and amplifies the sense of place, purpose and cultural resonance.

Produced by Tamia Filipo, The Circle is a bold and timely contribution to He Toi Hou, a pou that champions fresh, Indigenous-led contemporary performance. In Shifting Centre’s hands, the stage becomes a portal for dreaming—where joy, grief, resistance and celebration all have space to move and be moved.

Strictly dance, but far from silent, The Circle speaks powerfully through the body. This is dance-theatre work of joyful resistance is not just a performance, but also an invitation — to join the circle and be changed by it.

Aku mihi maioha ki a koutou te hunga hangai i tēnei mahi! Nōku te waimarie ki te mātaki i ōu koutou pukenga rau! Aroha tino nui ki a koutou, kia pai te toenga o ngā whakaaturanga!

Up the porohita!

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