Krd Strip 2.0. (Development Season)

Ōkāreka Dance Company is crowdfunding for the development season - Krd Strip 2.0. Funds donated will assist with a 2-week (10-day) rehearsal period, where some of Aotearoa's finest LGBTQI+ Queer artists will come together in Tāmaki Makaurau to re-imagine Ōkāreka's iconic work, KRD STRIP - A Place To Stand.

Taiaroa Royal (Artistic Director/Choreographer, ŌKĀREKA DANCE COMPANY), will team up with Jason Te Mete, (Musical Director and performer of the original production, TUATARA COLLECTIVE) to drive this development season. 

Other performers/collaborators will be,

Bryony Skillington (Tāmaki Makaurau).

Jaxson Cook (Te Whānganui-a-Tara).

Sharn Te Pou (Te Whānganui-a-Tara).

Matiu Hamuera (Ngāti Whakaue, Rotorua).

Oliver Carruthers (Tāmaki Makaurau).

Vincent Farane (Tāmaki Makaurau).

Taiaroa and Jason will collaborate with their stellar cast, workshopping individual and collective stories inspired by Karangahape Road, to develop a work that represents both the Māori whakapapa and the Queer culture of the Road. Connecting these stories together and bringing them to life will be an eclectic array of choreographic styles, danced to some of the most iconic Kiwi songs and music. These songs will be sung live by the cast to backing tracks and live instruments.

Funds raised will go towards,

Domestic flights: Wellington - Auckland return x 2 cast members.

Travel expenses: Rotorua - Auckland return x 1 cast member.

Accommodation: Auckland, 2-weeks x 3 cast members.

Per diems: 2-weeks x 3 cast members.

Ōkāreka works with many communities: LGBTQI+, Queer, Rainbow, Māori, Pakeha and various dance communities, to name a few. 

Identifying and inspired by the stories that come from these communities, Ōkāreka creates contemporary dance productions where these communities can identify themselves on stage and relate to the content of the production. 

Krd Strip 2.0. is a re-visitation of Ōkāreka’s iconic Queer work ‘KRD STRIP - A Place To Stand’ that premiered nationally in 2013 then went onto tour the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2015 to sold out performances and 5-star reviews.

Drawing inspiration from stories from Auckland’s infamous street, Karangahape Road, 'KRD STRIP - A Place To Stand' paid homage to the those that paved the road with their rainbow colours, respecting those Queer standouts who came before us who stood for Queer and Rainbow rights so that we in the present day can have ‘a place to stand’. 

A huge draw of inspiration also came from the Māori legend of how Karangahape Road got its name. Krd Strip 2.0. will revisit the road and take on the inspiration that has occurred over the last 10 to 12 years - the fluidity of the community, the comings and goings of the different establishments that have shaped the road, and the prominent figures within the various communities that have provided platforms for the future members of the LGBTQI+, Queer and Rainbow to stand on. 

Krd Strip 2.0. will encompass this with an all-Queer cast through contemporary dance theatre and all-Kiwi music.

As Krd Strip 2.0. is a development season, the outcome would be to generate new material through the changed experiences of the road. This new material will be discussed and reviewed by the team in the hopes of creating a full length work in the near future. 

With the fluidity of the community, new and different establishments shaping the road today, and prominent figures providing shoulders for the LGBTQI+, Queer and Rainbow worlds to stand on, this development season hopes to inspire communities and honour Auckland’s, and one of NZ’s, most infamous roads. 

While revisiting material from the original production that is still pertinent in today’s communities, honouring the legend of how Karangahape Road got it's name will bring our Māori and Queer communities together under the one kaupapa. 

Legend goes that Hape was a disabled misfit - he was born with a club foot, and therefore his brothers did not want him to travel with them from Hawaiki to Aotearoa for fear that he would slow them down. Hape was also a tohunga (high priest), and so when his brothers refused his entry, he recited karakia (prayers) and incantations and summoned up a whai (stingray) and rode on its back to Aotearoa. Arriving before his brothers, Hape stood on the hills above the Mānukau Harbour and waited for his brothers. When he saw their waka appear he began calling to them. Knowing his voice, the brothers were dumbfounded at how Hape had arrived before them. They recognised the Call-of-Hape | Karanga-a-Hape.

Karangahape Road has always been considered a road where misfits roamed, where the rainbow colours paved the concrete asphalt and the minority communities gathered to find solace in each other to claim this road as their - tūrangawaewae, their - place to stand.

By supporting this kaupapa, you are contributing to uphold the mana of all the communities K Rd has lived. Through live contemporary theatre and art, we can be transported to a bygone world, be entranced by the 'women of the night' and reminisce on a memory through the power of iconic Kiwi music. 

Come on the ride with us!