A tribute to her lost niece
For one night only, Laurie Anderson’s musical event The Calling is dedicated to her niece Thea Anderson, who died in New Zealand on her 25th birthday.
‘‘It was a car accident, and it was just one of those things that happens out of the blue. Suddenly you’re 25 and it’s your birthday, and then you’re dead,’’ Anderson said.
It will be an immersive performance, featuring Laurie Anderson and her string ensemble, on the evening of March 4.
The seating will be removed from the Lower Hutt Events Centre to encourage the audience to respond to the music.
Greg Cohen, Eyvind Kang and Rubin Kodheli, and percussionist Shahzad Ismaily will play alongside local musicians Horomona Horo and Megan Collins, Jo Hilder, Budi Putra, and Gregory Street.
As well as Anderseon’s own writing, The Calling takes text from Rebel In The Soul: An Ancient Egyptian Dialogue Between a Man and His Destiny, which is a translation of a 4000-year-old conversation between a person and their soul.
Thea Anderson, originally from San Francisco, died in Hawke’s Bay Hospital in May 2016, hours after her car was hit when another vehicle crossed the centre line as she was driving to work.
She was ‘‘a really amazing dancer, and she worked with disabled people teaching them to dance’’, Anderson said.
The events left an impression on Anderson’s family. ‘‘My brother went to get her body. She worked in a place near
‘‘Thea found her calling here in New Zealand as a dance teacher so we strip out the seating for this concert so you can respond to the music in whatever way you feel.’’
Marnie Karmelita
Creative director of The Calling
Wellington. He was received by people in the warmest, most wonderful way.
‘‘He was really amazed. There was so much generosity there in terms of the ceremony he said they did for her that I thought, ‘Some day I’d like to go there and see what she saw, and also maybe do something in her honour.’ ’’
The show’s creative director, Marnie Karmelita, said it was a ‘‘very special’’ performance. ‘‘Thea found her calling here in New Zealand as a dance teacher so we strip out the seating for this concert so you can respond to the music in whatever way you feel.’’
Anderson said she was looking forward to exploring a place that Thea ‘‘really loved’’.
‘‘As a musician and as a person travelling and doing things, often I come to a city, set up, do the show, and leave,’’ she said.
‘‘You don’t get a chance to look around and go, ‘Where am I?’ That’s really a wonderful thing, so I’m hoping to get a chance to do that.’’
Tickets are $59, available online at festival.nz.