OTHER AUCKLAND ARTS FESTIVAL SHOWS THAT MIGHT SUIT CURIOUS CHILDREN

Backbone

Revolutionary Australian company Gravity & Other Myths bring their hair-raising brand of circus to Auckland, stripping the artform back to its essentials: strength, spirit and creativity. You can see it at the ASB Centre, Aotea Centre, today.

Jelly or Jam

What’s the difference between jelly and jam? You might not find out in this Australian show, which has nothing to do with food and, instead, focuses on feelings and what goes on in the minds of our kids. It’s an acrobatic adventure about emotions, how we feel them and how we be ourselves. But there is jelly. Two giant blocks of it that creators Jascha Boyce and Joren Dawson use to test their physical limits. It’s on at the Spiegeltent in Aotea Square today and tomorrow.

Ka Tito Au, Kupe’s Heroic Journey Much-loved storyteller Apirana Taylor, director Murray Lynch and performer Tola Newbery tell a new version of the story of the great Pacific navigator and explorer, Kupe. It tours Auckland throughout the arts festival, starting with the Ma¯ ngere Arts Centre and finishing at Waipapa Marae in Auckland. See aaf.co.nz/kupe for more details.

Te Kuia Me Te Pu¯ nga¯ werewere

Our national Ma¯ ori theatre company, Taki Rua, brings north its story of a kuia who argues with a large spider living in her kitchen and competes to see who is the best weaver. Little do they know, they’ll soon have to work together to save the world. Inspired by Patricia Grace and Robyn Kahukiwa’s classic children’s book, The Kuia and the Spider/Te Kuia Me Te Pu¯ nga¯ werewere, Spiegeltent, Aotea Square, Sunday, March 24.