The Limbs Dance Company was formed in Auckland,
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
in May 1977 and disbanded in
Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...
in September 1989.
Limbs was "the first
contemporary dance company in New Zealand to win a general following", and performed alongside notable New Zealand acts such as
Split Enz
Split Enz were a New Zealand rock band formed in Auckland in 1972 by Tim Finn and Phil Judd and had a variety of other members during its existence. Originally started as a folk-oriented group with quirky art rock stylings, the band built ...
.
![Limbs on redhat T](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/Limbs_on_redhat_T.jpg)
Choreographers included
Mary Jane O'Reilly,
Chris Jannides,
Mark Baldwin,
Douglas Wright, Marianne Schultz and
Shona McCullagh.
Dorothea Ashbridge was the resident ballet mistress.
Music for the dances included that by
Coconut Rough
Coconut Rough were a short-lived New Zealand pop/ new wave band formed in 1982.
Despite their 1983 first single, "Sierra Leone", hitting the top five, and the band being named ''Most Promising Group of the Year'' at that year's RIANZ Awards th ...
,
Split Enz
Split Enz were a New Zealand rock band formed in Auckland in 1972 by Tim Finn and Phil Judd and had a variety of other members during its existence. Originally started as a folk-oriented group with quirky art rock stylings, the band built ...
,
Schtung, the
Topp Twins
The Topp Twins (born 14 May 1958) are the folk singing and activist sister comedy duo of New Zealand entertainers Jools and Lynda Topp. They are known for their country music influenced style, live shows and television performances. They often ...
,
Jack Body
John Stanley Body (7 October 1944 – 10 May 2015) was a New Zealand composer, ethnomusicologist, photographer, teacher, and arts producer. As a composer, his work comprised concert music, music theatre, electronic music, music for film and da ...
, Chris Cree Brown,
Don McGlashan
Donald McGlashan (born 18 July 1959) is a New Zealand composer, singer and multi-instrumentalist who Is best known for membership in the bands Blam Blam Blam, The Front Lawn, and The Mutton Birds, before going solo. He has also composed for ci ...
,
Philip Dadson
Philip Dadson (born 1946 in Napier, New Zealand) is a New Zealand musician and artist, who was in the foundation group for the Scratch Orchestra and founder of From Scratch. He lectured at the Elam School of Fine Arts, part of the Universit ...
, Wayne Laird,
Jan Preston and
Ivan Zagni
When the company closed their records were taken to
Auckland City Library.
In September 2017, 40 years since the founding, Marianne Schultz released a comprehensive history of the group entitled ''Limbs Dance Company: Dance For All People, 1977-1989''.
References
External links
Limbs Dance Companyon
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
Review, by Brian Jones, of ''Limbs Dance Company: Dance For All People 1977-1989'' by Marianne Schultz{{authority control
Dance companies in New Zealand
Arts in New Zealand