Part of the whole

New Zealand-born choreographer and video artist Olive Bieringa — who with American Otto Ramstad form the San Francisco-based BodyCartography Project — recently performed the premiere of their latest work ‘1/2 Life’ at the Southern Theatre in Minneapolis. The show explored global citizenship and connections among Pacific Ocean neighbours: nuclear superpower United States, nuclear-free New Zealand and atomic survivor Japan, represented by collaborators from each country (Ramstad, Bieringa and guest performer Takemi Kitamura). “Our stage is like a meta-site for these three countries and cultures, and we’re imagining ourselves in this larger world,” the Project said. Bieringa left New Zealand at 18, eventually settling in San Francisco, where she launched the BodyCartography Project in 1997, directing its first large-scale site-specific event a year later. Upcoming highlights for the Project this year include two new evening length works and a commission with the Lyon Opera Ballet.