Dunedin's annual Midwinter Carnival celebrates the longest night of the year with giant lanterns, dancers, stiltwalkers, music and many other performers. Charmian Smith talks to artistic director Juliet Novena Sorrel.
Cane shapes, birds, birdcages, boats and large cane skirts fill the Midwinter Carnival's workshop. It's the first time the carnival's creative central committee have had the luxury of a space where they can work together and it means they can solve problems and generate ideas more easily than if they were working in isolation, says artistic director Juliet Novena Sorrel.
They have been given an empty space upstairs at the back of the University Book Shop where three or four of them are working on props and costumes. It's big enough to make all except the largest lanterns, the sailing ship and ocean-going waka, which Katrina Thomson is making elsewhere. They need somewhere with a huge door so they can leave once finished.
''People who lend us spaces are not to be underestimated because that support is moral too. It's amazing how you feel when somebody believes in you enough to give you a free storage space or work space, or it could be something else like food for volunteers, materials - all those things show support. It makes people feel validated,'' Sorrel says.
The spectacular Midwinter Carnival, now in its 13th year, has become a favourite with Dunedin families. Over the years the procession has become so big it meets its tail as it moves twice around the Octagon on the Saturday closest to the longest night of the year.
But Sorrel is worried that if too many people come, they won't all be able to see the dancers, musicians, drummers and the lanterns, ranging from giant constructions to small ones made by children at the lantern-making workshops held in the preceding weeks.
This year's theme is ''Voyages of discovery'', and ideas of early settlers, both Maori and Pakeha, colonial threads and exploration run through it.
It ties in with the revamp of Toitu Otago Settlers Museum, the centenary of Scott's expedition to the South Pole and the 60th anniversary of Sir Edmund Hillary's ascent of Everest, Sorrel says.
The archetypal explorer, whom she describes as ''a bit like Hillary, a bit like Scott'', and his expedition party of flag dancers are being choreographed by Jessica Latton, of Ake Ake Theatre. Her last gig was at Chinese New Year in Hong Kong, with Empress Stilt Dance, where they were performing to 200,000 people.
''The Midwinter Carnival is the complete opposite. Hong Kong was so high-tech and this is so beautifully handmade and organic, which it's why it's such a treasure - and it rises out of Dunedin,'' Latton says.
She is also choreographing the Dunedin stiltwalkers who this year are dressed in either boat costumes or in Victorian costumes, their skirts and hats illuminated from within.
Turning costumes into lanterns is a new thing for the carnival and has needed a lot of research to find the right lights and battery packs, according to Sorrel.
Among more than 90 performers this year are the Mosgiel Brass Band, playing slow stately music instead of its usual energetic marches; Manawa Kapahaka, led by Ana Pene and Kopua Waititi, with 25 dancers: children dressed as the stars of Matariki and adults as warriors and paddlers accompanied by a giant lantern in the shape of a waka ama, a traditional seafaring waka; and Ra McCrostie and her African-style Koru Dancers.
Organising costumes for all the performers is a huge job, but over the years the trust has built up a wardrobe that can be recycled and reused with adjustments and additions, Sorrel says.
Organising and ordering the procession on carnival day is quite a logistical feat, and Sorrel is always thinking about the heights of the performers and lanterns and how the procession will look coming towards you, and from the side and going away, and the space between the different groups of musicians, and what will go with what - that's the fun side, she says.
The performers have makeup applied by Aoraki Polytechnic students in the Age Concern building. The procession, along with children and families with their lanterns gathers in Bath St. Numerous volunteers of all types, from security to programme distributors, are involved as well as performers.
''They are all so excited as they are getting in their costumes. It's such a neat feeling, they want to come back next year,'' Sorrel says.
''People involved in the event are amazed on the night because they are just working on their dance or a particular set of costumes, but when it all comes together it's magical.
''That magic still hasn't been knocked out of me after being involved for more than a decade. I still get excited about it and inspired about what we could do next.''
Be part of it
• The Midwinter Carnival is on June 22 at 6pm in the Octagon.
• Besides the procession there will be food stalls offering healthy winter food, and music by Tahu and the Takahes. It is run by a charitable trust and funded by the Dunedin City Council, Creative Communities, Southern Trust, Lion Foundation, Bendigo Foundation, Puaka Matariki Festival, the Otago Community Trust and supported by many local businesses, individuals and community groups. www.midwintercarnival.co.nz
