Review Archive
Deirdre Tarrant CNZM founded Footnote Dance in 1985, and led it to become the national treasure of choreography and dance exploration it now is. Her own ballet background began in Wellington with Jeane Horne and the Royal New Zealand Ballet. A QE2 study grant took her overseas to dance and on her return she choreographed a number of works for the RNZB. She has developed many works for Footnote and led creative change as the company has evolved over 29 years, including Pick up Sticks (New Zealand Festival), Outside the Square and War in Paradise. Deirdre has recently retired from her role as Artistic Director of Footnote and also from her role as an international examiner for the Royal Academy of Dance. She is Director of Tarrant Dance Studios and the Deirdre Tarrant Dance Theatre, a youth company with a commitment to integrating dance as a vital part of the Wellington community. Deirdre was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to the community in 2000, a Distinguished Alumni of Victoria University in 2006 and received an Absolutely Positively Wellingtonian award and was Arts Wellingtonian of the year 2012. In 2013 she was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to contemporary dance. She has reviewed dance works for Capital Times, Radio New Zealand and Theatreview for a number of years.
Welcome to the review archive.
Theatre and dance reviews since 2006.
MY GRANDFATHER IS A CANOE
Wellington
24/02/2023 - 26/02/2023
"Connecting the waters, the oceans, the heavens in poetry, script, personal opinion and song, we are the wayfarers..
RICH PEOPLE CRY TOO (and other lessons I learnt from Telenovela)
Wellington
19/02/2023 - 21/02/2023
"This clever succinct and smart theatre piece needs to be seen...
NZSD Performance Season 2022
Wellington
16/11/2022 - 26/11/2022
"Contemporary Dance Programme Exhilarates..
"Memorable! Arresting!..
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Tutus on Tour 2022
Dunedin, Christchurch, Auckland, Tauranga, Napier, Palmerston North, Wellington
07/10/2022 - 09/11/2022
"An Eclectic Programme With Flare and Versatility..
"Tutus a mixed bill..
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CINDERELLA
Wellington, Auckland, Napier, Christchurch
03/08/2022 - 28/08/2022
"Cinderella - what ‘happily ever after’ means in the twenty-first century..
"Cinderella - stylish and glamorous, with the feeling of 60’s retro Chanel and Dior..
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UNDOING
Wellington
07/04/2022 - 30/07/2022
"Undoing - a plethora of dance conventions..
"Raises laughs, opens emotions, alerts us to human possibilities and frailties..
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New Zealand School of Dance 2021 Graduation Season
Wellington, Paraparaumu
12/11/2021 - 27/11/2021
"Outstanding testament to resilience...
"Dance graduates step into the future with uplifting programme..
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The Firebird
Dunedin, Wellington, Christchurch, Palmerston North, Auckland
29/07/2021 - 02/09/2021
"The triumph of renewal and creativity over devastation...
"Brave, innovative and welcome..
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The Most Naked
Auckland, Wellington, Dunedin
24/06/2021 - 17/06/2023
"Stripping Away the Layers on Nudity..
"A cabaret of skin and bone..
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TE MAURI O PŌHUTU
Wellington
05/06/2021 - 26/06/2021
"Tension, reflection and dissipation...
TINĀ
Wellington
16/06/2021 - 17/06/2021
"Inspiring other young Pacific women..
"A collective rhythm unfolds of women...
Giselle
Wellington, Auckland, Palmerston North, Christchurch, Napier, Dunedin
12/05/2021 - 09/06/2021
"It would have been a mistake, however, to have left at the interval..
"“Ballets are the dreams of poets taken seriously”..
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Soliloquy in Sweat
Wellington
09/03/2021 - 13/03/2021
"Strong, self-possessed and wonderful..
Three Monkeys
Wellington
02/03/2021 - 06/03/2021
"Dark, pessimistic, desperate striving and failing are constants in this three part work...
Lift-Off
Wellington
26/02/2021 - 28/03/2021
"Special, clever, charming and mesmeric..
The Ryman Healthcare season of The Sleeping Beauty
Palmerston North, Wellington, Dunedin, Christchurch, Auckland, Invercargill, Napier
29/10/2020 - 06/12/2020
"An evening at the ballet..
"A ballet with lockdown at its centre..
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Ecology in Fifths
Wellington, Hawkes Bay, Hastings
11/11/2010 - 25/10/2020
"Thought provoking and devastatingly stunning..
"Considered, live, wonderful, urgent and disturbing..
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Strasbourg 1518
Wellington, Auckland
12/03/2020 - 28/03/2021
"Mystery and Frenzy..
"Powerful ruminations on the original event and our current situation..
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TROIS GRANDES FUGUES
Wellington
11/03/2020 - 12/03/2020
"Captivating and refreshing..
"Precision and clarity, patterns and pathways..
MAM
Wellington
05/03/2020 - 08/03/2020
"A work of layers..
"All in this together..
NZ School of Dance 2019 Graduation Season
Wellington
20/11/2019 - 30/11/2019
"Aspiring to sprezzatura..
"A great variety of choreographic offerings..
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HANSEL AND GRETEL (RNZB)
Wellington, Palmerston North, Napier, Christchurch, Auckland, Dunedin
06/11/2019 - 29/10/2023
"Serious themes at the heart...
"Vale Jon T. Thank you...
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BOLD MOVES
Palmerston North, Dunedin, Wellington, Christchurch, Auckland, Napier
16/08/2019 - 14/09/2019
"Delish-ish..
"Outrageously good..
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