Dancer Claire O’Neil returned to her native New Zealand with a new dance show for Footnote Dance a while back, featuring some of my music. The title, “Mtyland”, was her way of questioning her roots. Is it empty land? Mighty land?
The reviews were excellent, with Lyne Pringle saying, “O’Neil teases apart the liminal space between emotional states, toys with dualities such as ‘attack and defence, emptiness and fullness’ to reveal a new perspective on the quest to find an ’emptiness (openness, acceptance) in a full world’.” Lyne also noted that my soundscape design was “compelling and appropriate”. Thanks. Sue Cheesman called the show “invigorating, challenging, exciting”. The Big Idea website for the New Zealand creative community called it “stunning”.
“Mtyland” can even add an “award-winning” before the title, as Claire picked up an award as the “Best Choreography by an established Artist” at the Tempo 2008 dance awards. Footnote Dance have plans to bring “Mtyland” to Europe next year. The other pieces that Herman Martin has worked on with Claire are “NowHere”, “Lost Property” and “Loaded”.