Latest news with #HausofYolo
The Spinoff
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Spinoff
Haus of Yolo successfully struts its stuff in new suburban space
The new circus show from The Dust Palace isn't just a fun night out, it's an introduction to an exciting new space in Tāmaki Makaurau, writes Sam Brooks. As a resident of the very centre of Auckland's central business district, I often forget that there are spaces beyond the view of the Sky Tower where exciting and new art is being performed. '1010' is just a postcode, not a designation of where all the cool stuff is happening. Last week's preview night of circus show Haus of Yolo, in a revamped suburban Ellerslie arts space, is a reminder of that. The concept of Haus of Yolo (stylised in all caps) is a fun one. A sparkly green jacket is passed around the cast – Eve Gordon, Lizzie Tollemache, Luis Meireilles and Jaine Mieka – possessing each in turn with a megalomaniacal fashion designer persona. Think Jim Carrey's The Mask. This jacket is intent on making a new fashion line to be featured in Vogue, and no innuendo or pantomimery will get in its way. While the concept is fun, the audience is really here for the circus. The Dust Palace has been Tāmaki Makarau's leading circus company for over a decade now, with as many shows to their name as they have years under their belt. Their brand – high-level circus framed by narrative – is a strong one, and they continue in that vein here. The narrative is a nice-to-have, the circus is the essential excellence here. The circus delivers. The company's director Eve Gordon is, as ever, spectacular. Even though I've seen them onstage many times, it's still a thrill to see them be seemingly effortlessly lifted into mid-air and spin, swish, and contort into shapes that fly in the face of what the human body should be capable of. Meireilles and Mieka were new to me, however, and Mieka's acts on the silks and with the hoops were particularly impressive, blending pure athleticism with remarkable grace and beauty. Tollemache provides the magic (and I mean that literally) of the show, with segments that punctuate the audience's questions of 'How are they doing that?' with, 'No, but seriously, how are they doing that?' One of the highlights of the show is getting introduced to a new space, Ellerslie Arts, which The Dust Palace is now the resident company-slash-owner of. The space used to be the home of the Ellerslie Theatrical Society, which wrapped up its community activities in 2023, and it mixes the feel of a community hall with a professional space. It has that classic pros' arch and a cute little bar window, but a lick of paint and professional rig elevate it. Haus of Yolo seems designed to make the most of this space. It's easily the most intimate space I've seen this kind of circus in. I'd estimate the venue seats just above a hundred people, with each of those hundred being mere metres from the performer, and the ensemble makes sure to use every inch of floor space, mingling among the audience seated underneath the proscenium arch and marching down to those seated in the proverbial (and probably literal) cheaper seats. Circus is an artform that we're traditionally told soars in massive spaces, where thousands of people can feed in their energy to the performance of one person, doing physics-defying stunts and spectacle-driven acts for us. We see it in places like Spark Arena, Civic Theatre, or Q Theatre's Rangatira space. For logistical reasons, places like Basement Theatre or BATs Theatre can't really accommodate the form. The intimacy of Ellerslie Arts highlights another part of circus, and frankly the main appeal of the artform for me, now. You can see the intense focus on each performer's face as they perform, and you can feel the ensemble giving each other energy. When Tollemache sits at the lip of the stage, jacket donned, you really feel the focus that she's giving to Gordon and Meireilles as they contort and intertwine in mid-air. Circus is high stakes enough as it is, with the performers risking injury in the same space as the audience, but being this close to the action gives it another level. The Dust Palace have cottoned on to a winner with its new space, and I'm frankly excited to see the potential of it. There is, perhaps, one game too many for the audience to follow. One of the most impressive parts of the show – the fact that the cast is speed sewing the garments that they then have to wear onstage – often gets lost despite some helpful camerawork showcasing it. It's the one downside to the intimacy of the space, that there's sometimes too much show for the space to contain it. On the whole, though, the preview night of Haus of Yolo showed me more of what the Tāmaki Makaurau performing arts needs most. As people are being priced out of the central suburbs, we need more spaces to host both them and the things they want to see. Put simply: Ellerslie Arts is one of those spaces, and Haus of Yolo is definitey one of those shows.
NZ Herald
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- NZ Herald
Dust Palace brings circus cabaret to Kerikeri
Brought to life by Dust Palace's powerhouse creative team and four highly skilled circus performers, Haus of Yolo is an unforgettable night out, blending comedy, circus and pure spectacle. Audiences are invited into the inner sanctum of Haus of Yolo, where couture creations are stitched live on stage – only for them to become part of gravity-defying circus routines moments later. 'The whole concept of the show is that we sew all the costumes on stage and the audience chooses,' Gordon explains. 'Sewing an item of clothing in three or four minutes is a risky thing to do, it's speed sewing and that's the kind of game we're playing with the audience which adds to the adrenaline of the circus.' Following sold-out seasons across the country in 2018, the revised cabaret is this time touring Auckland, Kerikeri and Hastings, before it's off to Canada. The company has a regular gig in the country after Gordon decided to take a career gamble back in 2017. 'Montreal is like the home to contemporary circus and I'd wanted to go and check out what was happening in the industry. In 2017, we decided to take the Goblin Market show across to the arts market in Canada and I spent my grandmother's inheritance money getting over there. It totally paid off as the show was seen by a producer in Vancouver, who picked it up and we've been invited back ever since.' With a background in ballet and theatre – her grandmother paid for ballet lessons when she was small, skills she uses every day. Gordon almost went to dance school but switched to drama school, where she studied to become an actor. She later learned circus theatre, combining story-telling with circus before producing her own shows. As well as the dance, acting and sewing talents, Gordon writes the scripts as part of a collaborative team effort. Then there's the performing and acrobats. 'You do have a healthy respect for gravity,' she shares. 'That's the fun, to play with the calculated risk of it.' Dust Palace was founded in 2009 by Gordon and Mike Edward and has become New Zealand's premier contemporary circus company, creating internationally acclaimed productions such as The Wonderwombs, Goblin Market and Te Tangi a te Tūī. The name derived from a dusty studio where Gordon and her friend were making a circus flash film back in 2007. 'It was this dusty, creative space like magical fairy dust, which harks back to something coming out of the ashes. My friend thought it looked like a dust palace.' Advertise with NZME. She parked the name and used it years later when she formed her company. Dust Palace's work extends beyond performance; they are leaders in circus education and have pioneered New Zealand's most comprehensive circus teacher training programme. The Dust Palace School, which began in 2013, has had up to 450 students at a time and Te Kura Maninirau Kaupapa Māori Circus School, in its second year, has waiting lists. The company have recently secured a new venue in Ellerslie. The former War Memorial Hall has been repurposed as an arts venue and, as a dedicated hub for circus arts, cabaret and live performance, is set to become the beating heart of contemporary circus in the region. Their latest tour kicked off from this new venue on May 15 and they are set to perform at the Turner Centre, Kerikeri, on Friday, May 23. The flamboyant, fashion-fuelled spectacle is described as pure late-night indulgence with one reviewer saying: 'The imperfection of fast-fashion is perfectly highlighted in this fun show that is packed with high energy, thrillingly dangerous acrobatics and a perfectly put-together soundtrack. 'It's a script but it's not, we have personal leeway to modify,' says Gordon: 'Expect a wild ride. The show is definitely R18, it's pretty saucy, but in a fun way! Expect fast-fashion, expect to get involved, dress up in as much fashion as you can.' What type of fashion? 'Couture, darling, couture,' Gordon laughs. 'Your highest-end couture. You only live once!'
