| Year and length: | 2026, 55’ (world premiere) |
|---|---|
| Choreography: | Oli Mathiesen |
| Creative producer: | Shona McCullagh MNZM |
| Dancers: | Sharvon Mortimer, Celia Hext, Toalei Pearl, Raven Afoa-Purcell, Sebastian Geilings, Peni Fakaua |
| Lighting design: | Rachel Marlow, Brad Gledhill, (Filament 11) |
| Set and costume design: | Dan Williams |
| Sound design: | Anonymouz (Faiumu Matthew Salapu) |
| Production: | Behnaz Farzami |
| Co-production: | La Biennale di Venezia, Auckland Live, Perth Festival, Te Ahurei Toi o Tāmaki Auckland Arts Festival, Sydney Opera House |
| Commissioning partner: | Teater V |
| With the support of: | Wellesley Studios, Filament Eleven 11 |
Dance
Oli Mathiesen - Just Between Me and Jesus
Description
An electrifying fusion of themes, aesthetics, genres, and styles — ballroom, waacking, and vogue fem — riding the pulsating waves of techno music, colliding shared rituals, devotion, and a sense of belonging in an expression of collective euphoria. This is the new work by New Zealand choreographer of Māori descent Oli Mathiesen, the winner of the Biennale Danza 2026 international call for a new choreographic creation. Drawing equally from the universe of the dancefloor and rave culture and the collective memories embedded in all systems of belief, Mathiesen explores a paradox, asking how the boundaries between faith and fanaticism, ritual and radicalism, can blur and eventually dissolve when devotion becomes all-encompassing. But when does devotion become submission, and when does it become liberation?