Oli Mathiesen (Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Manu, Ngāpuhi) is a queer Māori choreographer and dancer based in Tāmaki Makaurau. Next month, as part of Tempo Dance Festival, he will perform with The New Zealand Dance Company for the first time in What They Said, choreographed by Jo Lloyd. He talks to express about gender in dance, storytelling without words and being reincarnated as a dress.
WHAT THEY SAID HAS BEEN LABELLED “A PLAY WITHOUT WORDS” – DO YOU THINK THAT STATEMENT SUMS UP CONTEMPORARY DANCE AS A WHOLE OR IS IN SOME WAY UNIQUE TO ‘WHAT THEY SAID’?
The beauty with contemporary dance is that it is everything and anything you want it to be. I would say no, that statement doesn’t apply to all contemporary dance, but in actuality, it absolutely can. Contemporary dance really allows the interpretation to be up to the audience, which can be daunting and uncomfortable for many people who like to be narrated through art. But more specifically that statement is unique to What They Said in the sense that we are figuring out how to write a ‘play’ with our bodies. Or how to speak a ‘play’ without words.
WHAT HAS WORKING ON ‘WHAT THEY SAID’ TAUGHT YOU ABOUT YOURSELF?
What They Said has taught me that there is a lot that I miss seeing or retaining in the world. Jo Lloyd has an incredible brain where she collects and hoards little moments, quotes, and ‘What They Said’s’ which she filters into her art. It has taught me how much value and weight words can hold.
It has also taught me how to let go during an artistic process and be carried downstream by the excitement, energy and knowledge in the studio. I often like to be on top of and aware of everything around me in a process, but I am learning more about how to trust the process.
MOST OF OUR READERS WOULD PRESUME DANCE IS ONE OF THE MOST QUEER-FRIENDLY INDUSTRIES YOU CAN WORK IN – IN YOUR EXPERIENCE, IS THAT TRUE?
Dance, much like many arts industries, is very queer-friendly, but just like every space and environment, unprogressive views and ideologies still exist.
I experienced a lot of homophobia, alienation and gender questioning when I was growing up through street dance. The competitiveness of the street dance industry and its adherence to commercial audiences means that it plays a lot into gendered roles. This still exists in contemporary dance (and most dance forms), and navigating the progression around gender rubs up against many of the traditional elements and forms contemporary dance relies on.
It does exist, but I have also found my family; been welcomed and loved in so many spaces which I never thought I would have been in dance. I am able to embrace and express my true queer self on stage, and that is massive compared to other industries.
WHAT IS THE GREATEST TRIP YOU’VE EVER TAKEN, AND WHY?
The greatest trip would have been a family camper van ‘roady’ up the country. I was squeezed in the middle seat between my parents while my sister read in the back of the van. I just remember tracing the road as it disappeared under the van as we drove for hours. Bakery stops and cream doughnuts was my main agenda for the trip! It was simple and unexpectedly one of the best trips I have ever taken.
IF YOU WERE REINCARNATED, WHAT WOULD YOU BE?
I would reincarnate as a skirt! Be put on by someone and shown off. Blow around in the breeze and hang off someone’s waist as I get to witness them walk around life.
Oli Mathiesen dances in What They Said, premiering at Tempo Dance Festival 2022 as part of the Tempo: Te Rerenga o Tere programme. The show runs for 2 nights only at Rangatira, Q Theatre, Auckland, from 7 -8 October. Tickets from nzdc.org.nz
 is a queer Māori choreographer and dancer based in Tāmaki Makaurau. Next month, as part of Tempo Dance Festival, he will perform with The New Zealand Dance Company for the first time in What They Said.){kind=link}