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After a week of tweeting up a storm in Taupo, Claire Cowan (composer) and Kiri Schumacher (jeweller) report back on their favourite Erupt Festival moments.

“Neither of us had spent much time in Taupo before, so the festival offered us a chance to explore for a week as well as immerse ourselves in the shows at night,” says Claire.

Claire:

Festival time in the big city is quite different to a provincial arts festival. Although I'm acutely aware of everything that's happening in my local arts festival in Auckland (having usually studied the programme months in advance and carefully highlighted, circled, and then crossed out all the things I can't afford), most people beyond the city centre don't even know it's happening. However. In a small town like Taupo, the whole town seems to get behind its festival, and the proud streets are lined in ERUPT festival flags, there's ERUPT specials at cafes, motels and lodges, restaurants etc. The Indian restaurant we went to after Guru of Chai had been inundated with customers inspired to eat Indian after a jolly good night of theatre.

Another thing I usually associate with 'going to see a show' is the stress of trying to find a park near the venue. I usually end up parking a long way away and arrive at the venue minutes before the show starts, puffed and out of breath and hungry from having run 12 blocks to get there, then spend the whole show worrying about whether my car's getting towed/ticketed. Well. What a breath of fresh air to arrive to the Great Lake Centre five minutes before the show began, and always find a park right outside. And not having to pay for it either!

Neither of us had spent much time in Taupo before, so the festival offered us a chance to explore for a week as well as immerse ourselves in the shows at night. We found some stunning natural beauty in the surrounding area and the lake itself - and were pleased to see the festival had programmed some shows in surrounding places such as Turangi and Mangakino. Having Tom Rodwell's gig on a paddle boat on the glassy lake Maraetai was a stroke of genius, although hearing stories about the boat breaking down due to a short-circuit caused by toasted sandwhich maker made us giggle.

Being a very walkable and flat city-centre, Taupo was a great place to experience the raft of community artwork and festival creations on during ERUPT. Every night the park next to the Great Lake Centre was glowing with colourful and playful lights, creating a beautiful night playground for kids, and an enchanting area to wander around in post or pre-show. The Great Lake Centre itself was dressed up for the event; a special architecturally mapped projection and sound show graced the walls and windows of the building's exterior.

Designed by Michael Hodgson, Jay McDaniel and Jon Baxter, this light show slides from colourful spaghetti like vines wrapping around the building, to a fiery molten lava eruption with cracking walls. It had a seamless interesting soundtrack including deep drum and bass, spoken word, and more traditional ethnic sounds. As a centrepiece to the festival I think this helped create a real exciting festival vibe on the lakefront, and certainly got passers by to stop and stare.

Kiri’s favourite ERUPT moments:

Not an expert in classical music, I’m often as equally drawn to the visual impressions of classical shows. As the musicians play I marvel at the beauty of bows, the architecture of the venue, and just plain people-gaze at the performers as they sway and play. AK Barok, NZ’s only orchestra performing baroque music on historic instruments, was no disappointment for either ear or eye. Baroque instruments look and sound different to their modern counterparts, evoking a feeling of historic richness. Their bows are unusually thin with particularly rose-thorn looking tips, giving them more of a bow and arrow appearance. And true to their traditional baroque roots all AK Barok strings are made with animal gut, which creates a raw tone even I could distinctly hear. Just don’t play them on humid days, aside from fluctuating in pitch they can also get disgustingly goopey.

Atamira Dance Company presented a series of short works by the name of Kaha. Some of the pieces felt more like sketches of works in progress. But Loise Potiki-Bryant’s Ngai Tahu was a particularly striking piece. The work is based on Wiremu Potiki, a kaumatua of Ngai Tahu who lived during the mishandling of NZ land purchases in the mid 1800’s. Wiremu calls on his spirit guides to carry strength to a future generation, and there’s a beautiful, slow moving timelessness to the piece. Dancer Biana Hyslop was incredible to watch, and is definitely a performer who’ll continue to grow into her own. Acting as Potiki’s main spirit guide, Hyslop’s almost Geisha-like poise combined with fierce, projected feminine strength and rendered her archetypal.

Stepping into the Taupo Museum, I wandered through an eclectic mix of displays before reaching the door of Serena Stevenson’s Face Value Exhibition. Photography and video footage document the process of six people receiving Ta Moko. What moved me, and has stayed with me since, is the statement displayed at the entrance; the importance of engaged relationship - the intimacy, witnessing and support between the people. Photographs and video footage display family gathering around tattoo tables, pulling up chairs and settling in for the long haul. Babies toddle so dangerously close to the tattoo table that I had the impulse to reach out and stop them from knocking the tattooist while he worked. But the importance of community was there loud and clear. Stevenson’s intent and Ta Moko’s larger context were carried beautifully across the works.

Having seen them recently at WOMAD, I headed back for more of Nga Tae’s distinct music. This time Richard Nunns was on stage too, bringing his expert knowledge of Nga Taonga Puoro (traditional Maori instruments) into the mix. Paddy Free wove electronic bass notes through the haunting melodies of live traditional instruments. I was particularly wowed by Waimihi Hotere’s voice when she let loose. Seat-of- the-soul stuff, she’d draw breath and holler lungfuls of raw feeling that sounded at times like mourning Arabic wailing, other times like powerful declarations of feminine feeling. There’s something equally affirming and little scary about a performer expressing such real and universal emotion, I want to sing like that!

Claire's favourite ERUPT moments:

What impresses me in a show is a mix of originality, quirk, integrity, passion and a jolly good story. These memories of the festival especially floated my boat:

Being not particularly interested in sports (of any kind) I was surprised to find myself enjoying the thrill of a game of cricket, in The Second Test, where actor Jonny Brugh plays both the commentator, and the entire team. The story follows the NZ Cricket team of 1953 on their trip to South Africa, and the concurrent Tangiwhai disaster that claimed the life of fast bowler Bob Blair's fiance. I was charmed by the innocence of the young team of a generation where travel to far off lands held much more excitement and mystery than it does in today's globally aware society. Six week long boat journeys and long distance phone calls home, pocketed love letters and camaraderie amongst the players was reminiscent of soldiers at war. What was particularly emotive and was the use of original Super 8 footage projected throughout the play, including original team member John Reid drinking tea in the hotel's swimming pool. It was a lovely moment post-show when actor Jonny met Mr Reid in the audience to congratulate him on his performance and portrayal of himself and his fellow teammates at the time.

Everyone likes a good laugh, and Idiots of Ants delivered their promise. Although appearing slightly worse for wear (jet lag? hangovers?) and maybe a little sick of each other (apparent practical jokes on each other throughout the night), this talented UK foursome came through with some brilliant comic material. My favourite character was 'Wally' (as in Where's Wally?) appearing 'In store' for a 'reading' of his new book, where at each page he simply looks and shortly after announces 'There I am', looking more pleased with himself every page turned. Another brilliant character was a giant angry (and hairy) honey bee, becoming enraged at some beekeeping folks for 'stealing' his honey time after time. There's not much funnier than an enraged hairy man in a bee suit.

The Adventures of Alvin Sputnik was a beautiful little one man/one puppet show. Loosely following the tale of Orpheus and Eurydice (Man searches to retrieve his wife's soul from the underworld), puppeteer Tim Watts tells the story using most rudimentary means - a sketchy animated style projection and a basic glove and ball puppet. He also sings and performs characters himself, although personally I found the non-spoken bits to be the most effective. Comedic and moving, this budget wee show was created in Tim's garage with the DIY attitude you'd expect from a NZder. Only thing is, he's Australian, from Perth. But we won't hold that against him.

Related story: Utes and Ukes Erupt  (+twitter feed)