Adapting for the future



The visionaries behind Auckland’s New Theatre Initiative (NTi) know that the face of the city is going to change dramatically in the future.

 

An artist’s impression shows how the new theatre will fit the Queen Street scene.

Increasingly the people of Pacifica, Asia and New Zealand’s own tangata whenua are going to dominate the demographics. We will need a performance centre that can adapt to their needs, as well as catering for more traditional art forms.

With that in mind, NTi has been working for the past five years to establish a world-class, medium-sized theatre which will be a pre-eminent and flexible venue for contemporary performing arts. The goal is to create a place where you will see vibrant, spirited, contemporary theatre, dance and performing arts, representing the best of local, national and international flavours.

In 2005 the Trust granted the project $900,000 and NTi has now gathered grants worth a total of $7 million, including $4.6 million from Auckland City Council. About $5 million more is needed to build and open the Queen St theatre, next to the Town Hall and Silo Theatre, by late 2008.

The project is driven by a group of 250 arts industry practitioners, representing the unique breadth and quality of  New Zealand’s performing arts community, companies and audience advocates.
Typical of the groups that will be using the new venue is dance company Black Grace, which was created to produce work that will cross cultural, generational and socio-
economic barriers. Formed in 1995 by choreographer Neil Ieremia, Black Grace aims to produce contemporary dance accessible to the general public, nationally and internationally.

In 2005 the Trust granted the dance company $50,000 to support its creative vision, which fuses Pacific and contemporary forms to produce a unique style of dance.

Based in Auckland, this relatively young company has developed a cross-over audience from the Pacific Island, Maori and European communities in New Zealand. Their tours to Sydney and New Caledonia in recent years have demonstrated that the company’s appeal can cross international boundaries as well.

Footnote: In May 2006 the Trust granted NTi a further $1,050,000. This takes NTi’s funds to $7 million, with about $5 million more needed to build and open the theatre by late 2008.