SMASHING THE GLASS CEILING

"Embodied living dance history is evocatively depicted in the new choreography of Fetish Effigies (Tim Gordon; Dancers: Juliet Fisher and Izumi Griffiths). Echoes of Graham's modern footsteps in post modern minimal choreography brings the evening to a suitably esoteric end - smashing the glass ceiling."

by Linda Ashley, The New Zealand Performing Arts Review & Directory
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PRIME CUTS CHOREOGRAPHIC SHOWCASE AT WESTERN SPRINGS

"Former Company Z member Benny Ord returned from dancing in Britain to present Snapdragon, a stylish postclassical virtuoso solo choreographed by Timothy Gordon to a baritone saxophone and percussion-free jazz track by Miriama Young.

Like the music, the dance made use of extended techniques, with waves of varying rhythm washing the dancer unhurriedly along multiple pathways through the space. Movements were always crisp, clean, precise, controlled, with high extensions and intricately articulated fine details."

by Raewyn Whyte, New Zealand Herald
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"In answer to the question of place comes the body - and it belongs to Benny Ord. Funky, playful and all plasticity, there is nothing to see except Benny Ord and his legs and his... beautiful black shorts. Where am I? I am the bend in your giraffian saxophone, leaping for leaves - that part that goes mwaaaa and then phwaa!

A dancing doll-man sprung to life, Benny Ord is part Peter Pan and part Wendy - with perhaps just a touch of Tinkerbell... What has Timothy Gordon put in that pixie mix?!!

Snapdragon, as the name would suggest, is a syncopated, snappy and somewhat dragonic jig; an expressionist frolic that has me all at angles. Abrupt halting at intended odds with exuberant flourishes speaks of a mathematics lodged in sound.

This work is a bounding translation of acoustic jaunt made manifest in movement; a magical mix of dragon dust and dance..."

by Celine Sumic, The New Zealand Performing Arts Review & Directory
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"Bachelor of Dance students at AUT University are getting a taste of the professional dancing world with the AUT Dance Collective. The Collective brings together Bachelor of Dance students with their alumni, the wider dance community and guest artists, giving the students the chance to train and perform alongside professional dancers and choreographers.
(snip)
Artistic Director Timothy Gordon says that an important element of the Collective is its alignment of the University with the wider community."

Extract from AUT North Shore News
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ENORMOUS TALENT SECRETED AWAY

Company Z dance Trust and Auckland University of Technology Dance Collective presented a most extraordinary event on Thursday of last week at The Waikato University, Hamilton. This revived company, under the inimitable artistic directorship of Timothy Gordon, presented a work in progress, a rehearsal demonstration and then completed costumed sections of the Lilburn Variations.

Renowned critic and musician, William Dart spoke about Lilburn, connecting us the New Zealandness and the history behind this embryonic work.

A slightly bemused audience drank in the spectacle of sunset starting, kowhai trees beyond the studio windows and the irregular looming of cyclists and walkers moving past outside. Timothy used these images to invent an imagery, sensory backdrop for his dancers, to encourage them to feel beyond the space of the choreographic invention.

Mature dance artistry in the bodies of Benny Ord, Estelle Vermeulen and Simon Pointon was exquisitely matched by newcomers Caroline Gray, Sassy Niven, Britt Carter, Jonelle Kawana and Beata Mathews.

The work is exhausting; exhaustive use of balance and spiral turns dusts off these beautiful musical scores. There was a clear sense of ownership of the music - of our place. As much of New Zealand dance like this is secreted away, hardly watched and mightily underfunded, I felt emotional, desperate even.

This choreographic artist has an enormous talent and the clear support of artists like himself from other disciplines. His dancers are committed and extraordinary.

The event was memorable - a real treasure. How can it be that this critical expression (similarly well beyond the boundaries of choreographic event) of us, as a people, is so consistently denied access and care?

by Felicity Molloy, The New Zealand Performing Arts Review & Directory
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