22 Aug 2023

Pearls - a new work in development by Alisha McLennan Marler and Julia Harvie

Alisha McLennan Marler, a light-skinned female in a dark top and black and white mottled leggings, sits in a wheelchair in a darkened dance studio, scuffmarks on its black floors, walls black, lights down. She dances around a suspended discoball, didging her head this way and that, as she circles around the base of the ball, watching her reflection. Hundreds of rays of light cut through the hazy room. creating white dots on the walls and floors, in all directions.

On 19 August we were treated to a showing of Pearls, in which Alisha McLennan Marler builds an intimate and fragmented space that reflects her lived experience of disability, a space where she explores her poetic, complex layers in a series in which she can be violent, rebellious, quiet, and charming all at once.

As part of the triple bill Tuarā Wairua, Pearls is a gorgeous and confronting piece; We're looking forward to further development ahead of its 2024 public performances!

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ORO:RESONANCE is a Touch Compass crip-led, disability-led short-form arts mentorship programme empowering disabled young adult creators through sound and music creation, and performance. An accessible sound design programme for disabled youth in NZ. Participants learn from professionals, create alongside professionals, and witness their work performed live at Basement Theatre Auckland on Friday 24 April. Sound and music creation is led by disabled composer, sound designer and music maker Drew McMillan; with rangatahi-created works supported by the professional dance and performance professionals of Touch Compass, and a young and hungry diverse set of next-generation dancers.

24 April 2026

🔊✨ (((ORO:RESONANCE))) live showing at Basement Theatre

ORO:RESONANCE is a Touch Compass crip-led, disability-led short-form arts mentorship programme empowering disabled young adult creators through sound and music creation, and performance. An accessible sound design programme for disabled youth in NZ. Participants learn from professionals, create alongside professionals, and witness their work performed live at Basement Theatre Auckland on Friday 24 April. Sound and music creation is led by disabled composer, sound designer and music maker Drew McMillan; with rangatahi-created works supported by the professional dance and performance professionals of Touch Compass, and a young and hungry diverse set of next-generation dancers.