F.A. Dance Centre presents - A Triple Bill. With three shows in one, A Christmas Wish, Broadway Baby and Beat Street, there is something for everyone.
A Christmas Wish is enchanting and entertaining with the classical ‘Silent Night’ and the fun favourite ‘Rock Around the Christmas Tree’.
Broadway Baby is the best of musicals, ‘Let It Go’ through to ‘Cell Block Tango’.
Beat Street is the third act with Tap, Contemporary, Hip Hop and Jazz numbers.
F.A. Dance Centre are renowned for producing top class performances with strong, technical dancers at a professional level.
Come along and enjoy the best of local dance talent.
Join Ballet Nelson in the timeless and enchanting production of The Nutcracker, a ballet that has captivated audiences for generations. This holiday season, step into a magical world where young Clara embarks on a dreamlike adventure filled with fantastical characters, dazzling dance sequences, and unforgettable music.
The story begins on Christmas Eve, when Clara’s father gifts the Nutcracker to the family. After her brother Fritz breaks it, Clara is entrusted with looking after the magical doll. That night, as the clock strikes midnight, Clara finds herself in the midst of a magical transformation: the Christmas tree grows to towering heights, and her beloved Nutcracker springs to life to lead an army of toy soldiers into battle against the fearsome Mouse King and his minions.
After Clara defeats the Mouse King with her slipper, she is whisked away on an unforgettable journey to the Land of Snow. There, she is greeted by twirling snowflakes in a breathtaking winter wonderland. The adventure continues as she travels to the Land of Toys & Sweets, ruled by the radiant Sugar Plum Fairy. Clara is treated to a celebration of toy dancers, each representing different countries, from Spanish and Arabian to Chinese and Russian, all performing with mesmerising skill and grace.
At the heart of The Nutcracker lies the powerful score composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Tchaikovsky’s sweeping melodies and lush orchestration elevate the story, bringing each character and moment to life in a way that words alone cannot. The grandeur of the music, combined with the stunning choreography originally crafted by Marius Petipa and now beautifully restaged by Adriana Harper, creates a magical atmosphere that leaves a lasting impression on all who experience it.
Ballet Nelson’s production of The Nutcracker promises to be an extraordinary performance, filled with exquisite costumes, intricate sets, and breathtaking choreography. Taking the stage are Ballet Nelson’s talented students, including adults. Alongside professional guest dancers Oliver Carruthers, James Burchell, Callum Phipps who portray key roles such as the Godfather Drosselmeyer, Nutcracker Doll, and Nutcracker Prince. We are also excited to welcome back ex Ballet Nelson student Brooke Darling as our Sugar Plum Fairy and Mouse King. Together, they dazzle the audience with their technical brilliance and artistry, creating unforgettable moments that come to life on stage.
Ballet Nelson is thrilled to bring this classic production to life, with performances designed to enchant, inspire, and create lasting memories. The production’s attention to detail, from the delicate costumes to the masterful choreography, ensures a visually stunning and emotionally uplifting experience for all who attend.
Don’t miss your chance to join Clara on her magical journey this holiday season. Whether it’s your first time seeing the ballet or you’re returning to this enchanting production, Ballet Nelson’s The Nutcracker is sure to be a performance you’ll remember for years to come. Secure your tickets today and be part of a magical world of wonder and enchantment!
For the first time, Legacy Groovers, Legacy Dance and Legacy Performance Company will take to the Nelson Theatre Royal stage and bring to life EXPRESS. The students at Legacy will have you feeling Merry and Jolly with this Festive Season-inspired dance show.
With over 150 dancers from ages 4 - 19, EXPRESS will rekindle the sparklejollytwinklejingley memories and feelings we have every festive season. This 3-act show will follow Gabgab (Nana Gabrielle) as she reflects on her most memorable Christmases and some of her worrying feelings. With all our favourite Christmas carols paired with costumes and personalities, our Nelson and Tasman Dancers will shine brighter than the Rockafella Centre Christmas Tree on Christmas Eve.
EXPRESS by Legacy Dance is a show for all ages.
Like Santa, check your list twice and ensure you have the correct ACT, DAY, and TIME. All ticket purchases are final. The box office cannot Exchange, Refund, or Reallocate tickets purchased incorrectly.
ACT 1 - Night Before Christmas performed by Legacy Groovers Pre-School Dance Programme
Performance Times: Sat 7 Dec, 12pm & 6pm (NO Act 1 on Friday 6 Dec)
We meet Gabgab (Nana Gabrielle) on Christmas Eve. She is getting ready to perform one of her favourite Christmas Traditions: reading Twas the night before Christmas to all the young kids in her Neighbourhood.
The Neighbourhood kids (Legacy Groovers Pre-School dancers) have decided to surprise Gabgab with a little bit of Christmas Spirit and Magic; they bring to life the character from Gabgab's favourite Christmas Story, "Twas the Night Before Christmas."
30 Minute Interval. The auditorium will be closed to ticket holders at this time.
ACT 2 - Adventus performed by Legacy Dance Community Dance Programme, Monday and Wednesday Classes
Performance Times: Fri 6 Dec, 7pm; Sat 7 Dec, 1pm & 7pm
After all the excitement and surprise Gabgab had watching her story come to life, she began to think back; Christmas was filled every year with family, love, joy, and Christmas cheer. Much like Santa travelling through the Christmas Eve sky, stopping at every chimney to deliver presents, we meet a young Gabbie who will open the doors to her own Advent Calendar of Favourite Christmases. Behind every advent door, memories burst out, and Gabbie reminisces and celebrates the joy of Christmas.
30 Minute Interval. The auditorium will be closed to ticket holders at this time.
ACT 3 - Cadere performed by Legacy Performance Company Extension Dance Programme
Performance times: Fri 6 & Sat 7 Dec, 8.30pm (NO Act 3 on Saturday afternoon)
Gabbie enjoys the beauty and wonder of her Christmas Past. She goes to sleep, wishing for it to be quick so she can have a merry Little Christmas.
Everyone knows Santa has a Naughty and Nice List, and Gabbie starts to dream what it would be like if she was on the Naughty List. Gabbie's Christmas spirit dampens as she understands how different the reason for the season can be when you are put on the Naughty List. Gabbie struggles through seven characteristics that stem from overindulgence, characteristics that don't feel like Christmas cheer.
Gabgab wakes up early on Christmas. She can hear the neighbourhood kids starting to wake up. She has to choose whether to share what she learned in her dream.
Perhaps the best Yuletide decoration is one wreathed in smiles…
Immerse yourself in one of the most unique productions touring the world. Celtic Illusion, the Irish dance and Grand Illusion sensation that has taken Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Canada and the USA by storm and will tour nationwide in 2024.
Even fans who have seen our previous shows won’t dare miss the 2024 tour that is set to raise the bar once again. This exhilarating production has broken barriers by fusing unparalleled art forms and is more spectacular than ever before.
A breathtaking array of experiences, fusing Irish Dance, Magic and influential flavours of Fosse, Michael Jackson, with a Broadway style. Celtic Illusion is a show like no other.
The show features new spellbinding illusions and choreography, alongside a musical score that will either make you cry or send shivers down your spine.
Starring the multi talented former lead dancer of Michael Flatley’s Lord of the Dance and Star Illusionist Anthony Street, with Georgia May, a marvel in both dance and Illusion. These impeccable performers lead a cast of champion dancers recruited from renowned productions across the world, such as Lord of the Dance and Riverdance, into a theatrical masterpiece that will have you mesmerised from the moment the curtain is raised.
Celtic Illusion will surpass your expectations and leave you wanting more.
Don’t hesitate, and book now to know the hype of one of the largest and most unique Dance and Illusion shows in the world.
Celtic Illusion is not to be missed!
14+ | Content warnings | Lock-out applies | NZSL Interpreted | Audio Described | Hearing Assistive Technology Available
Rows S, T & U in the Dress Circle may have restricted viewing of the projected content of this event.
An exploration of identity, desire, family, and of being disabled and Pasifika, AIGA (Sāmoan for family/whānau) is ground-breaking theatre told through the lens of Pacific Toa award-winner Lusi Faiva.
AIGA represents the big dreams and heart-felt reflections of award-winning disabled performing artist Lusi Faiva – performed by an ensemble of women, non-binary, disabled, non-disabled, Pasifika and Māori creatives.
Exploring identity, family, and desire, AIGA is a show that ebbs, flows, dips forward into the wicked and tilts back toward the heavenly as we traverse the experience of Lusi’s beautiful and complex life story. Using music, movement and dramedy, AIGA chronologically captures Lusi’s life from youth into adulthood, from 1960’s Samoa to the warrior that we bear witness to today.
AIGA is a three-year “crip time and c r i p s p a c e” devised work that has not only drawn on the life history of Lusi, but also the experiences of co-collaborators and performers including Iana Grace Pauga, Forest V Kapo (Te Atiawa, Ngāti Raukawa), Alex Medland (Kai Tahu), Jake Arona and support writer and performer Fiona Collins. The collective creative ensemble of women, non-binary, disabled, non-disabled, Pasifika and Māori gives this work its proud identity.
We’re incredibly proud to share this Aotearoa story with universal resonance with you, Whakatū. An honest and heartfelt work that moves, expands empathy and consciousness and invites us to explore new perspectives of being.
With a powerhouse creative team, this work features storytelling at its core; a story that will make you laugh, cry, think and feel – one that needs to be heard.
Features Sāmoan, Te Reo Māori, English and NZSL languages.
Supported by: Innit Creative
TICKETING INFORMATION
Two sections have been reserved as priority seating for the Disabled and D/deaf communities, and older people.
One of these sections is at the front of the stalls (downstairs area on the flat) and one is on the stage to the side and back of the performance area.
These sections are reserved to allow audience members that are part of these communities access to connect and celebrate with Lusi Faiva (the lead artist).
Front of the stalls priority seating (downstairs seating on the flat)
The front rows closest to the stage will be reserved with a mixture of theatre seats and spaces for wheelchair and mobility device users. There will also be reserved seats for the D/deaf community near the NZ Sign Language interpreter.
Stage priority seating (accessible via wheelchair lift or stairs)
This will be a combination of chairs, beanbags and space for wheelchair and mobility device users. Access is via wheelchair lift from foyer. These seats will be to the side and back of the performance area, and the lighting state of the show means that the audience seated in the stalls will only see a shadowy silhouette of anyone seated on stage, except when the houselights are up.
Tickets to these sections can be purchased by phoning the Theatre Royal box office on 03 548 3840 (Select 1) or by emailing [email protected]
Ticket Cost
All priority tickets are $24 plus a $2.50 booking fee.
Companion seats are free of charge and can be reserved in the same area.
14+ | Content warnings | Hearing Assistive Technology Available
Seats on the flat will be removed to make room for dancing.
A three-day rave condensed into an award-winning art performance: three dancers, non-stop, endurance, club culture. A spectacle of the human body as victim to music, passion and our endless desire to achieve more. Prepare to be (literally) moved. Dance floor tickets available!
“An international sweaty hellhole and the cesspit I so desire to be trapped in for 48 hours. The likes of the Berlin and New York underground rave scene have always fascinated me. I believe another version of myself exists somewhere in a piss-covered club where I’ve chewed through my cheeks and some guy’s kids are spilled down my back. I am galvanized and roused by rave culture and everything it encompasses.” - Oli Mathiesen
Oli Mathiesen with Lucy Lynch and Sharvon Mortimer present the award-winning The Butterfly Who Flew Into The Rave, an endurance-based dance work to the booming techno album 'Nocturbulous Behaviour' by Suburban Knight. Hot off their stints at Liveworks 2024 and Melbourne Fringe, we’re so thrilled to have this mind-blowing performance take over the Theatre Royal stage for our closing festival weekend. Seats are out, come prepared to join the rave!
Exploring the movement vocabulary used in techno and rave culture, a contemporary nightclub between 3 bodies emerges. Relentless movement, seamless without pause, detailed down to every beat. The atmosphere and culture of a 3-day rave condensed into a high art, streamlined performance where you watch the destruction of 3 human beings commence in front of you. Indulge in the pain, the sweat; a display of pure endurance to achieve a goal. A spectacle of the human body as a victim to music, as a victim to passion, as a victim to our endless desire to achieve more. To win and win again.
Resuscitation on repeat. It is the come up and the come down all in one and highlights the beauty of feeling alive but all the consequences that come with it. It’s an ode to the past 3-year marathon of losing societal morals and political structure. Our communal loss of work, time, love, sex, eating, fighting, cleaning, holidaying, sleeping, pashing, drinking, throwing up, everything, physicalised as an artifact of what we as a people have endured. And just like listening to a love song that sings to that one breakup you had, The Butterfly Who Flew Into the Rave is an acid house remix that screams f**k you to the pandemic.
“As an exploration of human endurance – the show does exactly what it set out to do. The Butterfly Who Flew Into The Rave is the coolest version of the beep test I’ve ever seen, and as an audience we’re locked in, rooting for their success whilst in awe of their prowess. Go and vicariously get your cardio in for a month!” - Art Murmurs
Artistic Credits:
Creator, Choreographer, and Performer: Oli Mathiesen (Ngāti Manu, Ngāti Hine, Ngāpuhi)
Choreographer and Performer: Lucy Lynch (Ngati Kahungunu)
Choreographer and Performer: Sharvon Mortimer (Ngāti Porou)
Producer and Stage Manager: Abbie Rogers (Ngāi Tahu, Te Arawa)
Production Designer and Operator: Bekky Boyce
The NZ Highland and National Dancing conducts their Solo Seal Performers Examination yearly, which is the pinnacle of the organisation’s examinations.
Candidates must choose four dances which must be performed in front of an audience and be assessed by three examiners.
To be successful, each candidate must reach a very high standard and pass all four dances.
Vast Dance Festival is a dance festival for high schools across Te Tau Ihu, giving students the opportunity to demonstrate their choreographic and technical skills.
The Festival fosters the dance community amongst high school students and celebrates a wide range of dance styles.
Gillian Francis’ Nelson Academy of Dance presents an evening of delightful, enchanting dance.
Young Marie, with her brother and mother, visit a Doll Shop to see the dolls dancing. The children have a wonderful time watching all the different dolls; Drummer, French, Poodle, Fairy, Can Can dancers, and many more. However, they cannot decide which one they would like, so go home empty handed.
Later, Marie dreams about the dolls and suddenly finds herself back at the shop, having a splendid time dancing with all the dolls. But really it was all a dream.
Join Marie and all the other young dancers for an enchanting, not to be missed evening.
Legacy Performance Company presents Peter Pan Jr.
Based on J.M. Barrie's classic tale, Peter Pan is one of the most beloved and frequently performed family favourites of all time. This high-flying Tony Award-winning musical has been performed around the world and delighted audiences for 60 years and is now adapted for young performers.
Peter and his mischievous fairy sidekick, Tinkerbell, visit the nursery of the Darling children late one night and, with a sprinkle of pixie dust, begin a magical journey across the stars that none of them will ever forget. In the adventure of a lifetime, the travellers come face to face with a ticking crocodile, the fierce Brave Girls, a band of bungling pirates and, of course, the villainous Captain Hook.
Featuring the iconic songs, ‘I'm Flying’, ‘I've Gotta Crow’, ‘I Won't Grow Up’ and ‘Never Never Land’, and a rousing book full of magic, warmth and adventure, Peter Pan JR. is the perfect show for the child in all of us... who dreamed of soaring high and never growing up.
Proudly supported by A.D Bridge & Sons Builders.
Join the cast of 70 performers for some school holiday fun, in this creative and new look at Peter Pan Jr.
