This weekend the Whaingaroa Youth Movement were back to the Town Hall with their latest and 20th show, All Under the Same Sky.
As if in reflection of the performance, which felt like a break in the rain, the skies cleared and we were offered a gap in the clouds. With the stage roofed in upside down umbrellas, it was as if the performers extracted us from the weather of life to immerse us in their understanding of what it means to live in a world that is constantly changing.
Opening with a sequence to Imogen Heap’s ‘Wait it out’, the first group of dancers used their movements to pose questions reflected in the lyrics, “Where do we go from here?”, an apt contemplation after the last few years of disruptions, but also of those moments in time, especially when we are young, and ask ourselves who we are or what next?
Subsequent music, visuals and choreography suggested the value of collaboration, support for one another and companionship as we walk these questions together, but also the importance of making your own path – for example, though cohesive, each dancer performed in their own unique way, often in pairs or smaller groups using deliberate variations on the same movements.
With “Running out of Patience”, the familiar feeling of being in life’s waiting room was so clearly encapsulated, with the dancers running, but not going anywhere and alluding to the hands of a clock that move forward — only to move back again. Haven’t we all felt that we should be progressing but somehow we’re not, that we are blocked or even moving backwards? I remember this feeling being strong when I was younger, but recognise how especially relevant it is after the recent turbulence we are all now recovering from.
“Burden”, a sequence to Ibeyi’s ‘I carried this for years’ offered a stunning visual image of what it is like to carry the impatience and confusion of living (and of youth), along with demonstrating how the WYM creates community with the older dancers working with the younger. This somewhat heavier interlude was followed by an upbeat, joyous sequence “You do You, I’ll do Me”, throughout which the glowing faces of the audience mirrored those of the beaming performers, who brought so much play to their movements. Even more levity came next with the youngest dancers in their gorgeous sequence that reminds us of how simple it is, to just enjoy being – and that they, our youngest, are still some of our greatest teachers — we must put down our burdens in order to find joy.
The concept of finding the threads of who we are within the fabric of us all and the forever changing world around us was clear through the closing three sequences, as the dancers moved in ways that recognised the changing, becoming and adapting required of us as we grow into ourselves – flowing together, moving as one and yet also as individuals.
The show concludes with an uplifting atmosphere and the suggestion that as we are moved by the weather of living; each of us has the capacity to adapt and choose our path both by connecting to what makes us individuals, and what makes us the same. It’s not all sunshine, but we can make it.
The Whaingaroa Youth Movement, led by the brilliant Patti Mitchley and her dedicated team, supported by an expertly curated soundtrack and inspired animation by Ella Green, manage to express their own experiences – of being young people in this world, and yet cleverly at the same time the experiences, thoughts and emotions we all feel as humans on this earth. We are together, yet individual, we feel, move, and express ourselves differently, but we are all under the same sky.
by Amy Rivers – Images by Molly McCabe
