Only The Stars Know Where I've Been

Part of the Pōneke Festival of Contemporary Dance 2024
A reluctant farewell to past versions of yourself, Only the Stars traverses nebulous happenings in a surreal yet meditative coming-of-age.

An ode to aspirations of lassoing passing asteroids and inflating the moon.

Only the Stars Know Where I’ve Been is a full-length contemporary dance work. Calling upon the dust collectors in our subconscious, it sculpts a vision of an approaching solar cycle. Time darts where it pleases, entangling utopias into a tapestry of sentiment, before the seasons of doubt arrive. Musings of youth somersault over one another and meet dreams of the drowned - a brooding pair navigate the inscriptions on their skin.

With its tender performance, sculpted choreography, and uncanny world, Only the Stars Know Where I’ve Been conjures an opportunity to introspect and converse with your quiet contemplations. An artefact of self-reckoning and self-fractures through a queer temporal lens. Amidst the finite delicacies of parasitic relationships and stinging ties, we stand in the sentiment of what it means to return to oneself after extreme change.

Choreographic Direction by Jake Starrs
Performers and Collaborators: Stella Grace Seawright and Sydney Magnus
Dramaturgy by Jane Smolira
Sound and Music Composition by Hugo Butler
Lighting Design and Operation by Grace Bella
Produced by Jake Starrs

Presented by Ctenophora.Co. Based in Tāmaki Makaurau, Ctenophora Co. hosts the choreographic stylings of Jake Starrs and collaborators. Their contemporary work negotiates personal anecdotes and gestural evocations to craft surreal landscapes. These terrains are tender and nuanced, underpinned with unearthly vignettes. An air of whimsy and playful aptitude is fortified by Ctenophora Co.’s visual and synergetic identity.