Guy van Egmond
I have to open this review with a confession: I am a massive fan of aerial performance, and specifically Nicole Maisey’s work. Was I the wrong person to review this? Maybe. But I’ll do my utmost best to remain unbiased…
Nicole Maisey is one of the most talented performers in Te Whanganui-a-Tara. She is transcendent, with such grace and strength that one almost forgets they’re watching a human performance.
Nicole Maisey is one of the most talented performers in Te Whanganui-a-Tara. She is transcendent, with such grace and strength that one almost forgets they’re watching a human performance.
Yet, there’s a groundedness in her work too, which doesn’t let the sheer physicality of her work hide under the guise of ‘magic’. Temporal Aria was a breathtaking display of aerial acrobatics, contortion and movement that explored discovery and balance, and showcased a master at work.
The show was built up in acts, each more impressive than the former. It began with Maisey folded upon herself within a glass cube, writing on the walls of her self-imposed cave. Slowly, she moved out of confinement, playing with contortion and balance in and around the cube. This opening was exploratory, playing with ideas of resignation and connection to the comfort zone that keeps one fixed in space. From here, the work expanded in power and confidence, moving beyond the bounds of gravity and the stage itself, as she played with shadows, silks, and her much-anticipated hair-hanging work.
While it lost its potency over the course of the show, Maisey’s physical narrative suggested a theme of self-discovery, perhaps a reflection on her own journey as an acrobatic artist. Temporal Aria went from strength to strength, from static floorwork to a first exploration of hair-hanging, then to shadow and aerial work with silks, and finally a second solo hair-hanging performance, where audience members were invited to join her on the stage. The silks were clearly Maisey’s most comfortable equipment, as she climbed and let herself fall and suspended herself in a perfect split with practised ease. I’m averse to describing it as casual, because there’s no air of nonchalance in her performance. Instead, it’s deeply focused, a concentrated calm that seems almost meditative.
This focus was all the more present in the two performances of her hair-hang work: the most physically demanding of her performance forms, as well as her newest to showcase. But she could easily have been doing this for a decade already. Despite being suspended by her hair from a rope that disappeared into the ceiling, she didn’t bat an eye.
The power of hair-hanging as an artform is that there’s nothing to obscure the performer. Whether supported by Matthias Goed or controlling her own vertical movement, when the rope faded into the darkness, Maisey may as well have been an angel in the air. There was an ethereality about the way she’d twist or rise on a whim, sending shadows dancing around the room. Yet, at the same time, you could see the very human strength and precision, the knowledge of friction and rotational physics, that she’s had to develop to become so flawless. With a stirring soundscape to match, Maisey flowed between the balance of tension and fluidity, of safety and freedom, pain and grace.
Temporal Aria was the kind of performance that could feature as its own act in a Cirque du Soleil show, and we got to witness it in Te Auaha’s Tapere Nui?! Nicole Maisey is, in this reviewer’s opinion, a genuinely-world-class performer, who we are so lucky to be able to witness in Wellington. Her dedication and artistry push her aerial performance beyond what seems humanly possible; she is a master of each and every performance form she turns to.
Temporal Aria has one last show on March 8th which, if you’re after being spellbound for an evening, I cannot recommend highly enough.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The show was built up in acts, each more impressive than the former. It began with Maisey folded upon herself within a glass cube, writing on the walls of her self-imposed cave. Slowly, she moved out of confinement, playing with contortion and balance in and around the cube. This opening was exploratory, playing with ideas of resignation and connection to the comfort zone that keeps one fixed in space. From here, the work expanded in power and confidence, moving beyond the bounds of gravity and the stage itself, as she played with shadows, silks, and her much-anticipated hair-hanging work.
While it lost its potency over the course of the show, Maisey’s physical narrative suggested a theme of self-discovery, perhaps a reflection on her own journey as an acrobatic artist. Temporal Aria went from strength to strength, from static floorwork to a first exploration of hair-hanging, then to shadow and aerial work with silks, and finally a second solo hair-hanging performance, where audience members were invited to join her on the stage. The silks were clearly Maisey’s most comfortable equipment, as she climbed and let herself fall and suspended herself in a perfect split with practised ease. I’m averse to describing it as casual, because there’s no air of nonchalance in her performance. Instead, it’s deeply focused, a concentrated calm that seems almost meditative.
This focus was all the more present in the two performances of her hair-hang work: the most physically demanding of her performance forms, as well as her newest to showcase. But she could easily have been doing this for a decade already. Despite being suspended by her hair from a rope that disappeared into the ceiling, she didn’t bat an eye.
The power of hair-hanging as an artform is that there’s nothing to obscure the performer. Whether supported by Matthias Goed or controlling her own vertical movement, when the rope faded into the darkness, Maisey may as well have been an angel in the air. There was an ethereality about the way she’d twist or rise on a whim, sending shadows dancing around the room. Yet, at the same time, you could see the very human strength and precision, the knowledge of friction and rotational physics, that she’s had to develop to become so flawless. With a stirring soundscape to match, Maisey flowed between the balance of tension and fluidity, of safety and freedom, pain and grace.
Temporal Aria was the kind of performance that could feature as its own act in a Cirque du Soleil show, and we got to witness it in Te Auaha’s Tapere Nui?! Nicole Maisey is, in this reviewer’s opinion, a genuinely-world-class performer, who we are so lucky to be able to witness in Wellington. Her dedication and artistry push her aerial performance beyond what seems humanly possible; she is a master of each and every performance form she turns to.
Temporal Aria has one last show on March 8th which, if you’re after being spellbound for an evening, I cannot recommend highly enough.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐