First XV: The Arrival at the New Zealand International Arts Festival (2010)

It's always tough to choose a single image from a New Zealand International Arts Festival - after all, I photographed for 24 days straight, usually working 17h days; so there are a few to choose from!

And 2010 was a particularly good year, between visiting companies and New Zealand works; but somehow I come back to Red Leap Theatre's production of The Arrival often, when I'm thinking about that festival. It caught me by surprise, I think - in the same way Giselle did two years earlier, I came into rehearsal not knowing much about the show, and came out a fan of the company...

Photographing the arts: two sides to every story

Once, early in my career, someone gave me wise advice about photographing events: 'remember, there are two sides to every story. There's what's happening on stage, and then there's the audience's reaction to it.'

Naturally, not every event I work on has an audience in attendance - often, I'm at a dress rehearsal, with only the director & crew - but also, most of the time, the audience (deliberately) isn't lit! So the opportunity to make use of this suggestion isn't always there; but once in a while, the chance comes along, and it's great to be able to take it...

Today in New Zealand International Arts Festival history: Toi Mana, Tu Mahi Toi, Festival Picnic (2004), Schoolfest (2006), Frisky & Mannish (2010), Raoul and NZTrio (2012)

Last one! It's the closing day of the New Zealand International Arts Festival in Wellington, so I'm wrapping up this series here. Hope it's been interesting!

Today in New Zealand International Arts Festival history: Schools Tour (2004), Parsifal (2006), La Vie & Festival Setup (2008)

Almost there - only one day left of this look back at the New Zealand Festival over the past decade or so. Of course, the Festivals we're looking back at were winding up too, so today we've got more people than shows, as naturally there were fewer & fewer rehearsals for me to attend & photograph as the shows came to an end.

Today in New Zealand International Arts Festival history: Tuwhare (2006) & T.E.O.R.E.M.A.T. (2010)

Today's images are brought to you by the letter T: first, Tuwhare, the concert tribute to the great New Zealand poet Hone Tuwhare. Following on from Baxter in the 2000 Festival, songwriters were invited to create a new work using one of Tuwhare's poems, and an album and concert were created from those.

Today in New Zealand International Arts Festival history: The Overcoat (2004), Body Movies (2008) & The Arrival (2010)

Another three-show day, today; this time, starting in 2004 with a production from my old home town of Toronto! One of the few times English-Canadian theatre has visited New Zealand - in fact, I'm hard pressed to think of another - this was The Overcoat, an entirely wordless work that totally won audiences over, and possibly paved the way for The Sound Of Silence in 2010 now that I think about it. (Having proved a silent show could work, I mean!)

Today in New Zealand International Arts Festival history: Velocities II (2004), Holy Sinner (2006), Black Watch (2008), The Animals & Children Took To The Streets and Writers & Readers Launch (2012)

Chamber orchestra Stroma followed up their 2002 concert with Velocities II in the Wellington Town Hall in '04; and this photo from the sound check became one of their main images for most of the next decade, which was nice! They're a great ensemble, wish I could see more of them.

Today in New Zealand International Arts Festival history: Sutra (2010)

Belgian choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui's work had been to New Zealand before, with works like Iets Op Bach and Foi appearing at the Festival previously, but I think Sutra was the first to appear under his own name rather than as part of Les Ballets C de la B. (Happy to be proven wrong of course, but that's how I remember it!)

Today in New Zealand International Arts Festival history: Tea, A Mirror Of Soul (2006), Seven Deadly Sins (2008) and Festival Setup (2012)

Well, now that the Festival is rolling, it would usually be a tightly scheduled 24-day marathon for me, jumping from rehearsal to rehearsal to opening night function to post-show function, with the possibility of seeing something in between those two - and from looking back over the years, there were certainly a number of days like that!

Today in New Zealand International Arts Festival history: The Lindbergh Flight rehearsals (2008)

Continuing on from my previous post - here you can see the progress over a week of rehearsals for The Lindbergh Flight / The Flight Over The Ocean, the opera at the New Zealand Festival in 2008. As I mentioned then, the first image image here is a surprising match for one I took a week before, when we were in the rehearsal hall!

Today in New Zealand International Arts Festival history: The Lindbergh Flight rehearsal (2008)

With the New Zealand International Arts Festival coming up soon (from Feb 21 - Mar 16 this year), and as this is the first one I'll miss since I started working with them in 1998, I thought I'd have my own festival of photos, from the time I spent as their sole photographer from 2004 to 2012. I'm going to have a look through my archives, and pull out a few - but not TOO many - images that might not have been seen at the time, but that I like looking back at now.

New Zealand International Arts Festival countdown to launch - 2010, The Arrival

PhotographyRobert CattoFebruary 23, 2012Arts, Festival, Red Leap Theatre, St James Theatre, The Arrival, New Zealand International Arts Festival, Wellington, Theatre, New ZealandComment

Robert CattoSeptember 3, 2011Exhibition,, Opening, Launch, Event, St James Theatre, Cinema, Artists, Photography, Wellington, Weta Workshop, FilmComment