An Honest Conversation with Hoyori Maruo and Sacha Copland
Talk, dance and be honest. In An Honest Conversation two dancers talk out loud while dancing for an hour. They try to be as honest as they can. It is completely improvised. Hoyori Maruo and Sacha Copland will perform An Honest Conversation at Riverside Theatres as part of FORM Dance Projects “That’s Two, Thank You”, new annual dance festival celebrating the art of the duet on 1 April 2025. 23-year-old dance artist Hoyori Maruo and 43-year-old choreographer Sacha Copland will talk while dancing for 1 hour. They will try to be honest. Sacha has choreographed 20 full length works, performs all over the world and lives in Wellington. Hoyori is still trying to understand who she is. She is also the 2024 recipient of the Obremski/Works Voyager fellowship by Jesse Obremski. Hoyori and Sacha want to talk and dance. They will try to dance, talk and be honest. “Kia ora I’m Sacha. I’m a Pākeha New Zealander, English, Scottish and Polish. I'm in a period of transitions and being unsure. I think when I was younger everything seemed a bit more certain” "I'm Hoyori. I am an only child to my mum and dad. I am fortunate enough to continue to just be their child. Naturally, as their child, I am their source of joy, fulfilment and at times, entertainment but also where most of their stress, frustrations and sometimes anger may stem from. I am happy to be continuously evolving, learning and changing - learning from experiences of my own and of those around me. I am Australian in the sense that I was born in Australia and have lived here my entire life but my parents are both Japanese. Strangely, I feel no strong ties to either nation. I do believe different aspects of each culture have been embedded in me and now I am beginning to recognise this, leading me to pick and choose the parts the benefit me / I need depending on the situation. As an Asian Australian, I have experienced my share of racism but this has not bothered me much my entire life. I guess I’m used to it and nothing done to me has been life threatening - I have been busy and fulfilled greatly thanks to my parents since I was a baby so I notice things but I find myself always having a choice; whether to say something or to just let it go Honesty to me means doing our best to just be. When we are young, this might be our natural state. As we grow older and experience different situations and people, this tends to alter and effort might be required to be open without considering ulterior motives, calculations, potential consequences etc."
