Photo credit: Jinki Cambronero
We spoke with Holly Finch who is bringing her new work yes and also no, subject to xyz, finer print applies to Q next month to learn more about her and the show.
1. Introduce yourself and your arts practice.
My name is Holly (she/her), and I am a Dutch-Kiwi dance artist with a deep passion for storytelling and collaboration. My choreographic voice draws on the intersections of my practice and background across contemporary dance, street styles, and physical theatre, with a particular focus on character and ‘the human in the dance’. This tapestry of influences allows my work to connect with and engage a broad audience. I believe in the power of art to move us, offer new perspectives, and remind us of our shared humanity.
2. What's your favourite thing about what you do? What's the hardest?
My favourite thing about being an artist is collaborative play. It is what I come back to time and time again. To create informed by the influences that exist in the space, to follow curiosity and see where it leads - this is magic to me.
The hardest part is all the mahi required of an independent/freelance artist to keep making and presenting work, especially in the current funding climate in Aotearoa. Learning to wear every hat - production, tech, editing, marketing and some - while also working enough across various capacities to sustain yourself. For me, that means teaching dance and yoga, working in retail, and some… It can be challenging and, at times, overwhelming.
3. What's the best advice you've ever received?
Follow your greatest excitement. It matters a lot, and not at all. Surrender the outcome.
4. Who are your favourite artists / theatre companies / musicians etc and why.
My favourite choreographers include Crystal Pite for her hybrid of dance and theatre, Pina Bausch for her emotionally resonant work, and Jillian Myers for her musicality, subtlety and storytelling. Companies that inspire me include Kidd Pivot, Punchdrunk and Hofesh Shechter for their theatricality, physicality, and utilisation of both contemporary and street dance.
My favourite music artists include of course Pink Floyd, Benjamin Clementine, Leonard Cohen, Lorde, FKA twigs and Macklemore. They are hugely diverse in genre, but I’m drawn to all of them for their musical, experimental and poetic genius.
Cinema and film are also hugely inspirational to me. I love bringing the intimate essence of this medium into how I build character and story within theatre work - zooming in on private moments and finding the nuance in them. The Bear TV series Perfect Days movie are some examples, alongside Damien Jalet’s creative direction and choreography for the STORM Gener8tion music video.
5. Tell us more about yes and also no, subject to xyz, finer print applies and how it came to be?
XYZ was born, firstly, from my obsession with the music of Pink Floyd. A nostalgic soundtrack from my childhood that took on new meaning as I grew. Floyd’s music and imagery called me to see characters, stories and worlds within it, while its poetry felt deeply relevant to the parallels between our inner worlds and the larger philosophical questions of being human in an infinite universe.
The work developed out of my own attempts to make sense of my internal experience and mental health throughout my twenties, while simultaneously observing the social, political and spiritual landscape of the world around me. It became a way of placing these two experiences - the deeply personal and the profoundly collective - in conversation with one another.
The title, and work, are shaped by observations of the human desire to categorise, define and resolve things in absolute terms. In today's discourse, we seem to crave black-and-white answers, leaving little room to acknowledge nuance: the subtle complexities that exist in everything, everywhere, always. And so we see the progression of cancel culture, misinformation and disinformation, and ‘echo chambers’ that can make us deaf to opposing perspectives and less able to engage in critical thinking and meaningful discussion.
Further to this I am curious that more than one concept can be true at the same time, even the seemingly opposing. This reflects in the title of my work - yes and also no… These aren't necessarily contradictions - they're context-dependent truths. Perhaps the willingness to engage with nuance is what brings us closer to objective ‘truth’.
There's also something to be said about extremes. Opposites, when observed closely, often mirror one another. Consider water: whether boiling or frozen, similarly shocking to the senses. Or ideologies: communism and fascism, positioned as opposites, yet when enacted by humans, can manifest in strikingly similar ways.
From this, the value of the middle emerges - the space in between. The grey. If the Earth is round, perhaps everything within it follows suit.
Life loops, cycles, returns. There is no clear beginning or end. Nothing entirely absolute. Infinte.
Photo credit: Jinki Cambronero
6. This season was first presented at Basement Theatre. How does it feel to now be bringing this to Q?
It is such an honour to be bringing the work across the car park to Q. We are so grateful to Basement for incubating the work and allowing us to realise its first presentation.
To have received Q Season Support to present the work in the Q Loft is so exciting. It platforms the growth of the work and gives us the opportunity to develop and upscale the experience in a way we had always hoped.
We feel held by the communities at both Basement and Q, and by the whenua we are lucky enough to present work on.
7. How did you become involved with contemporary dance and what has been your approach with choreographing this show?
My journey to contemporary dance has been unconventional. I was always drawn to experimentation, metaphor and the floor, but my journey to contemporary was indirect. At times, I’ve experienced imposter syndrome having not trained at one of Aotearoa’s major contemporary dance institutions.
Early on I followed a commercial dance pathway and then trained more in hip hop and street styles. But my calling towards the freedom and possibilities of contemporary dance was strong, and I began to explore the practice intensively.
I met collaborators who were generous enough to believe in me and taught me a great deal about creative methodology and improvisation. I sought out workshops and intensives, saw work, and dedicated myself to making.
I am now in a place where I believe in my practice for its unique influences, which have led me towards a form of dance theatre that is driven by character and story, highly musical, and layered with metaphor and socio-political and philosophical enquiry.
8. Why is Pink Floyd the perfect music to help tell the story of this work?
The pulse and poetry of Pink Floyd ignite a fire in my belly. Their music is deeply poetic and philosophical - the perfect backdrop for exploring the themes of the work through characters whose humanness we can recognise.
9. Tell us more about the cast and the journey to bringing them together to collaborate on this work.
I feel deeply honoured to be working with this cast. They are all brilliant within their individual practices, while sharing common ground in terms of curious creativity, technical capacity and commitment to excellence.
Tegan is an international artist who is leading the way in Australia with immersive dance theatre making, including her award winning and acclaimed production Overture. Natasha has a rich and deeply researched eco-somatic movement practice, alongside a special heart for community building, Celia is an improviser with a rich practice in instant composition, through which she has been mentored by world-renowned improvisation artist David Zambrano in Brussels, and Oli is making and sharing groundbreaking work both near and far - including BFR at Q Theatre for AAF, and the new work Just Between Me and Jesus at the Venice Biennale.
10. What are you most excited for audiences to experience when they come along to the show?
I am most excited for audiences to recognise themselves within the characters, stories and the overarching ‘impossible equation’.
The work seeks to enquire rather than answer and ultimately leaves no resolution other than recognition of nuance.
yes and also no, subject to xyz, finer print applies takes place Wed 11 - Sun 15 Nov in Q Loft. Book your tickets now.
This work is presented by Holly Finch with Q Season Support. XYZ was first presented at Basement Theatre, Tāmaki Makaurau, on 13th November 2025.
