Made in New Zealand 2008 is a colourful palette of six new works by six New Zealand choreographers which seeks to sketch a national identikit through dance.
The works are all performed by New Zealand dancers accompanied by New Zealand musicians, and examine modern issues - sometimes quite brutally - which contribute to our national identity.
Deirdre Tarrant looks at how our choice of clothes affects perception in That Feel Good Factor, while Hannah Elks' Vessel explores the functions of the body.
Whippersnapper, by choreographer Sarah Foster, speaks of violence and Te Mana, by Merenia Gray, looks at the feminine side of an ancient Maori martial art form.
Other works include Kakushi Aji by Sarah Knox and The False Waltz by Malia Johnston.
New Zealand musicians Craig Sengelow, Andy Foster, Eden Mulholland, Francesca Mountfort and Brendan Elks complete the ensemble.
Footnote will also be holding a dance forum in the Dunedin Public Art Gallery at 3pm on Saturday and a performance at the same time on Sunday.
"We'll be moving around and dancing according to what the artwork is,'' dancer Erynne Gleeson said yesterday.
Made in New Zealand 2008 is on at 10.15pm tomorrow night in Allen Hall.
A trio of intriguing plays premiered at the Fringe Festival last night.
Trapt, by Dell McLeod, incorporates acting, film and audience participation to untangle a woman's web in Allen Hall at 8.30pm.
"We trap ourselves in life in lots of ways,'' McLeod said.
Trapt is about that feeling of being trapped and how you find your way out.''
Fold is by Dunedin director Alice Christie and is a dark commentary on modern morality.
"It's a black comedy which satirises the white middle class,'' Christie said. "The characters are a patchwork of everything that's wrong with society.''
The 1981 Springbok tour, which was possibly the closest New Zealand has ever come to civil war, is revisited in A Nation Divided in the Playhouse at 8.30pm until Saturday.
Amid all the frivolity of the Fringe, a serious message, Get Real, was played out yesterday.
Transvision Arts is using theatre to confront binge drinking among young people.
The New Zealand and Australian collaboration has been working with aspiring actors from Dunedin schools to "alcohol-proof'' young people.
"Forum theatre is an innovative, interactive, creative way to explore why young people use alcohol and what the real life consequences can be,'' co-director Shiree Loewendahl says.
"It's an instant way of testing behaviours and choices before actually experiencing those situations for real.''
Get Real is on daily at 1.30pm in the Hutton Theatre until Saturday.
