From 7 to 24 March, enjoy 18 days of unforgettable theatre, music, dance, cabaret, kōrero and more from Aotearoa and beyond in some of the finest venues across Auckland.
Here are YOUR ex’s top reasons to buy your Auckland Arts Festival tickets now.
• To See African Excellence –
Afrique en Cirque: 14-17 MARCH
Presented by Cirque Kalabanté, a Montreal-based circus company formed by Guinean multidisciplinary artist Yamoussa Bangoura – prepare to feel the rhythms of Afro-jazz and kora resonate throughout The Civic as you take in jaw-dropping acrobatics and displays of strength and contortion, mingled with dance and comedy. Cirque Kalabanté is known for its charismatic performers, infectious feel-good shows and unique approach to circus. Prepare for a pec-tacular night!
• To See New Zealand Life From A Different Perspective –
Aiga: 20-24 MARCH
Kiwi Dance and theatre company Touch Compass have been creating innovative disability-led arts since 1997. Aiga founding member (Pacific Toa award winner) Lusi Faiva tells her own story of identity, desire, family and what it means to be disabled and Pasifika.
For Aiga, Lusi worked with a creative ensemble of women, non-binary, disabled, non-disabled, Pasifika and Māori identities who artfully share their own experiences with and through Lusi’s. This is an Aotearoa story that will expand your empathy and consciousness.
- To Celebrate Sexual Freedom –
Bernie Dieter’s Club Kabarett: 7 – 24 MARCH
Bernie Dieter has cemented herself as one of the standout cabaret artists of her generation. A cross between Lady Gaga, Marlene Dietrich and Frank-N-Futer in sequins, she has stunned, aroused and terrified audiences from Berlin to Hong Kong with her gin-soaked lascivious charm. Blending dangerously funny original songs, sequins and satire with a cut-throat wit, the Queen of Weimar punk kabarett can mesmerise with a hauntingly beautiful ballad one moment and bring the house down with raucous laughter the next.
- To Heal –
Beyond Words: 10 MARCH
To mark the 5th anniversary of the Christchurch Mosque Attacks, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra presents a unique collaboration promoting unity and peace through music.
Conducted by Fawzi Haimor and featuring powerful Moroccan vocalist Oum and oud virtuoso Kyriakos Tapakis, the NZSO performs works from Valerie Coleman, Reza Vali, Arvo Pärt and the world premiere of a new work from acclaimed Aotearoa composer John Psathas, ONZM. The Mosque Attacks reminded us all how vulnerable marginalised communities can be. Beyond Words hopes to highlight how powerful unity is.
- To Line Dance –
Boot Scootin’ Boogie: 8 March
From the imagination of Tom Sainsbury, the comedy dance troupe Dynamotion (co-led by Lara Fischel-Chisholm) has been producing weird and wonderful works for the likes of Auckland Pride and the Fringe Festival since 2012. This year they are taking it up a notch, taking over the legendary Speigeltent for one-night-only for an interactive Boot Scootin’ Boogie that pays homage to the gaiety of the rhinestone cowboy, square dancing and how camp country can be!
- For Storytelling That Explores Gender Identity –
Boy: 14 – 17 March
Intersex is a rainbow identity that many in our communities still don’t fully understand. Born with ambiguous genitals, our Intersex communities are still fighting for the right to be raised as they are – not forced into a binary gender category, sometimes tragically, with ‘corrective’ surgery performed on babies.
In Boy, acclaimed Dutch playwright Carly Wijs (Us/Them) presents a story that echoes that of the Intersex community, where circumcision goes wrong and the castrated child is raised as a girl.
- To Celebrate International Women’s Day –
Hear Me Roar: 8 March
Join in celebrating International Women’s Day with this powerhouse ensemble of wāhine vocalists. Betty-Anne Monga (Ardijah) and Annie Crummer (When The Cat’s Away), alongside Julia Deans (Fur Patrol) and Boh Runga (Stellar*), present kōrero about songs that have influenced their singing styles, including tributes to Renée Geyer, Tina Turner and more. Prepare to sing along to crowd favourites, clap your hands and roar as you laugh along with four women who have seen it all in the music industry!
- To Hear The World’s Finest Pasefika Opera Singers
The OGs: 24 March
Sani Muliaumaseali’i is the founder of London’s first Samoan Arts Collective, Gafa Arts Collective, and for The OG’s, has brought together a who’s who of Pasefika opera singers to take us on their journey from the music of their islands to Bellini, Mozart, Verdi, Strauss, Gershwin, Sondheim and more. To mark the occasion, the singers will be backed by a choir and orchestra in a show written and directed by Sani to show how far the dreams and realities of Pasefika people have come.
