HULLAPOLLOI

As part of the 2011 Footnote Forte Season, Hullapolloi has toured to Wellington, Dunedin Nelson and Antwerp and now returns home to be staged in Auckland as part of the Tempo Festival.

Here is a group of odd creatures. They move together, breathe together - shuffle, grunt and fall together. We are not sure exactly what it is they do, but they seem to have a purpose in mind. With their special equipment and odd-shaped bodies they train, they play, they follow the rules. The rules are complicated and strict. They play again.

Hullapolloi is a beautiful, disturbing stab into the political dynamics of a group – what is known, what is successful, what is normal. Swarm behaviour, competitive surges, comforting rituals, and the individual who re-negotiates boundaries are observed in this horde of strange creatures - somewhat like us, but not exactly. Because in Hullapolloi they’re still imagining how the game might play out, still testing out different scenarios and balances that might drastically alter an outcome.

Respected performance-makers Jo Randerson and Kate McIntosh join forces with Footnote Dance Company on this totally new creation. Both originally from Wellington, Randerson and McIntosh have enjoyed several previous collaborations together on the international scene, including 2004’s All Natural, which toured extensively in Europe, in 2006’s Hair from the Throat, which premiered at the prestigious Kaaitheatre in Brussels.

“Together, Jo and Kate have produced very strong and unexpected collaborative work,” said Deirdre. “There’s an element of surprise and off-the-wall unexpected choreography in the work.”

“Certainly the product of their outrageous minds has been a challenge for our dancers to get their heads around so it bodes well for a series of dance works which will be captivating, groundbreaking and simply unmissable.”

Hullapolloi tackles issues of consumerism and materialism and challenges the sense that avarice has taken over. “We live in an increasingly public world yet spend far less time in public as people,” says Deirdre.

“Hullapolloi explores those pertinent issues and aims to put the human back into humanity.”

Winner of ‘Best of the Fringe’ at 2011 Dunedin Fringe Festival