Stand to Reason: Conversation Over Breakfast

Join us for an intimate salon-style breakfast event with the Royal New Zealand Ballet dancers of Stand to Reason and team at Kate Sheppard House.

In a special partnership between Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga and the Royal New Zealand Ballet, this special event brings together dancers and Te Whare Waiutuutu Kate Sheppard House team to explore the relationship between performance and place. This one-off event offers a rare encounter between performance and place, held in the former home of Kate Sheppard, where Sheppard developed, circulated ideas and fought for Aotearoa New Zealand women's suffrage campaign.

At Conversation over Breakfast, guests will learn how the ballet Stand to Reason was inspired by Sheppard’s 1888 pamphlet Ten Reasons for Women’s Suffrage, and how her ideas of equality, citizenship, and political voice have been translated into the movement and embodiment on stage today.

The dancers and historians come together to reflect on how historical ideas continue to be reinterpreted through contemporary artistic practice. Rather than presenting history or dance as fixed narratives, this experience brings together dialogue around how Sheppard’s political writing continues to resonate in the present. The RNZB dancers will talk about the creative and physical processes of how they embody ideas of justice and equality, alongside historical perspectives that ground the work in place and time.

Set within one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most significant historic homes, this experience includes a glass of bubbles on arrival, a sit down curated breakfast, museum entry and an intimate conversation in the place where political ideas were once formed, and where Sheppard’s legacy continues to be explored through performance today.

Tickets are limited and early booking is recommended.

Already purchased your Winter Season ticket?

If you purchase a ticket to the Winter Season you will receive 20% discount. If you have already booked for the RNZB's Winter Season, please contact rsvp@rnzb.org.nz with your ticket confirmation to request the promo code to access the discounted ticket price.

Availability

Capacity is strictly limited to preserve the intimacy of the experience between artists and place. This event is expected to reach capacity, and a waiting list will open once all places are filled.