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TRUSS performance timesThurs 26, Sat 28 Feb, Sun 1 March, 8pm
Meet at the Bodybox container
https://www.theperformancearcade.com/val-smith
I’m super grateful and delighted to be working alongside Eleven Greenstones and Cassie Gilmore-Freeth for The Performance Arcade 2026 in Te Whanganui-a-Tara in the first iteration of a live work called TRUSS.
TRUSS is a nocturnal trans ritual of grief and kinship spell.
The performance work continues an exploration into trans embodiment, light and fascia* initiated through the Wellesley Studios Research Residency, in September 2025.
Eleven is a Pākehā cultural worker living in so-called Australia whose work engages community, education, and social justice spaces towards accountability and repair.
@exeyegee
Cassie Gilmore-Freeth (Celtic Pākehā, she/her) is a sculptor and performance artist based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara, whose practice is driven by decay, lesbian sadomasochism, and symbiotic power relations.
@roach_corpse
val smith (Celtic Pākehā, they/them) is a choreographic artist based in Tāmaki Mākaurau. Recent works investigate more-than-human kinship, trans intimacies, and queer temporalities through outdoor urban performances within Aotearoa's cultural context. @valvalvalsmith
Huge thanks to @theperformancearcade and @creativenewzealand
*Fascia is an elastic-viscous connective matrix within the body that shimmers and communicates, transforming between solid and fluid states. So, given its durability, intelligence, and adaptability, how might an embodiment of fascia inform the choreographic development of trans intimacies and systems of support?
*TRUSS drawing-image - a performer leans sideways in a seated position within a glassy calm oceanic environment. They emit light from bodily protrusions in all directions. Behind them sits a silver rubbish bin gleaning in the light. Before them a beam of light connects sky and water.
Image includes a photo of val presenting for Wellesley Studios Research Residency 2025 by Rebecca Hobbs @hossaroo and a photo of Manukau Harbour by val from Te Whau Point / Blockhouse Bay.
I wish to acknowledge the resourcing and magic of this place, Te Whau Point / Blockhouse Bay. Its spaciousness, fluidity and incredible birdlife have been informing TRUSS and The Glimmering project through time spent there in the boatclub studying craniosacral therapy.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
The Performance Arcade, 55 Cable Street,Wellington, New Zealand
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups - all the happenings, one place.
