Story: Contemporary dance

Douglas Wright

In the 2003 documentary Haunting Douglas, Douglas Wright is seen in excerpts from Elegy for Jim, Leigh and Bayly (1993) and Arc 3 (1999). Between the two performances he reads a section of his fictionalised memoir, Ghost dance (2004), describing his feelings upon becoming a dancer. In the documentary, Wright recalls that ‘from the earliest time I can remember I was always dancing. I still don’t know what possessed me – perhaps the fluttering white moth laid its eggs in me and my dancing was a kind of hatching….  In Tuakau, South Auckland in the early 1960s, a dancing boy was frowned on, with a frown handed down for generations.’

Using this item

Spacific Films
Reference: Haunting Douglas [videorecording]. Producers, Shona McCullagh and Leanne Pooley; director Leanne Pooley. Auckland: Spacific Films, 2004

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'Elegy' excerpt courtesy of Chris Graves. 'Arc 3' excerpt courtesy of Grant Lahood

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How to cite this page:

Marianne Schultz, 'Contemporary dance - Modern dance flourishes, 1970s and 1980s', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/video/42593/douglas-wright (accessed 25 April 2024)

Story by Marianne Schultz, published 22 Oct 2014