Tribute to the fallen

University of Otago history student Lea Doughty takes centre stage in the Octagon as New Zealand...
University of Otago history student Lea Doughty takes centre stage in the Octagon as New Zealand Dance Company dancers (from left) Carl Tolentino, Tupua Tigafua, Chrissy Kokiri, Gareth Okan, Chris Ofanoa, Hannah Tasker-Poland and Lucy Lynch, prepare...
William Doughty.
William Doughty.

The New Zealand Dance Company performance in Dunedin today will celebrate Otago's fallen soldiers.

University of Otago history student Lea Doughty, of Dunedin, said she gave the names of soldiers from both sides of her family for the production Rotunda at Dunedin's Regent Theatre.

''They need to be remembered,'' Ms Doughty said.

Her father's cousin, William Doughty, was aged 28 when he was killed by a German sniper at the Battle of Passchendaele on the Western Front in 1917.

He was buried at Mud Corner Cemetery in Belgium.

Her mother's father, Frederick Bolt, deserted the Royal Navy in Scotland in 1912, travelled to New Zealand under an assumed name and joined the New Zealand Expeditionary Force.

In 1915, he was at Gallipoli for three months before going to Egypt to recover from dysentery.

''The sacrifice they made should not be forgotten,'' Ms Doughty said.

Rotunda set designer Joe Bleakley, of Wellington, said the production was about celebrating life and acknowledging the dead.

The names of Otago soldiers would be projected on a large pieces of sheer white fabric hung on the stage at the Regent Theatre during the performance.

''It's like a memorial, like a marble slab with the names of the dead on it.''

When the production started, the fabric would drop and float around the stage, following a dancer, he said.

The fabric represented the dead and the spirit of life.

After World War 1, rotundas were built around New Zealand for people to celebrate fallen soldiers, listen to music and celebrate life, he said.

The production was touring New Zealand and Australia to mark the centenary of the landing at Gallipoli and included performances by the New Zealand Army Band with a score arranged by composers including Don McGlashan.

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