Grace of Rugby and Dance Highlighted in Tauranga Arts Festival Exhibition

19 October 2011

A unique collaboration between renowned Rugby photographer Peter Bush and acclaimed choreographer Raewyn Hill highlights the poise, grace and power of dance and Rugby.

Grace: The Exhibition opens in Tauranga tomorrow as part of the Tauranga Arts Festival and the nationwide REAL New Zealand Festival that runs alongside Rugby World Cup 2011.

Commissioned for Tauranga Arts Festival, the exhibition captures the very essence of sport and art – physical strength, poise and agility – and is displayed outdoors in Masonic Park, The Strand from 20-30 October.

Festival director Greg Latham says the exhibition marries up images of great Rugby moments with the same movements mimicked by dancers.

“Rugby is played with power, style, skill and passion, backed up with fluid physical movements. Dance can be just as powerful. Both dance and rugby display physicality and guts, yet contrasted with refinement and poise.

“In this exhibition, choreographer Raewyn Hill reinterprets the sporting action to highlight the similarities that at first aren’t obvious – between the dancer and the flanker, the lineout and the pirouette.”

Grace: The Exhibition is on display at Masonic Park, The Strand as part of Tauranga Art Festival and the REAL New Zealand Festival from 20-30 October. Entry is free.

Find out more about Tauranga Arts Festival at www.taurangafestival.co.nz