Join us in a playful exploration of movement for the contexts of performance and art making. This workshop leans into curiosity, experimentation, and collective sensing. SOMEWHERE FRUITCAKE is part of Auckland Pride Festival 2026.

This workshop is for LGBTQIA+, Takatāpui, MVPFAFF+, trans, queer, and non-binary art freaks, geeks, kinksters, not-dancers, performers, drag artists and gay movers of all descriptions.

You can expect: Practices of Hope and Failure, Flaming Somatics Tests, Queer Feelings, Homo-Shamanism, Fun with Realness and Fakeness.

Come as you are / no experience required. Participation is always optional; resting, watching, or doing things your way are encouraged. There will be a designated soft space and table for drawing and writing, as well as a big open space for movement play. Low pressure, consent-based, choice, pacing, rest.

Facilitated by val smith, a trans non-binary Pākehā choreographic artist based in Tāmaki Makaurau. val is from a contemporary dance background and has over 20 years of experience in teaching and performance making. Their practice engages place-oriented inquiry, critical somatics, and friendship-based collaboration to explore the dimensions of queerness and transness within the cultural context of Aotearoa. Recent works investigate more-than-human kinship, trans intimacies, and queer time through performances with marginal urban places.

SOMEWHERE FRUITCAKE was initiated in 2016 as a series of classes for THIS CLOUD IS QUEERING!, val smith’s research project for the Caroline Plummer Fellowship in Community Dance, University of Otago, Ōtākau Whakaiku Waka.

With thanks to Creative New Zealand & Wellesley Studios Research Residency 2025.