Stand to Reason: Conversation Over Breakfast

A close up meeting with some of the RNZB dancers and conversation exploring performance, place and women’s suffrage in Kate Sheppard’s home.
About this Event

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

In a special partnership between Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga and the Royal New Zealand Ballet, this one-off event offers a rare opportunity to explore the relationship between performance, history, and place in the former home of Kate Sheppard. It was here that Sheppard developed and shared many of the ideas that shaped Aotearoa New Zealand’s 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 Why the Women of New Zealand Should Vote, and how her ideas of equality, citizenship, and political voice have been translated into movement and embodied on stage today.

Through conversation with RNZB dancers and the Kate Sheppard House team, the event explores how Sheppard’s ideas are reinterpreted through contemporary artistic practice. Rather than presenting history or dance as fixed narratives, this experience creates a dialogue around how Sheppard’s political writing continues to resonate in the present. The RNZB dancers will share the creative and physical processes behind bringing concepts of justice and equality to their performance, while the Kate Sheppard House team will provide the historical context that grounds 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 curated breakfast, museum entry, and an intimate discussion that connects Sheppard’s enduring legacy with contemporary artistic practice.

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 [email protected] 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.