ABOUT

ADAM

My name is Adam Boonprakob-Naughton (he/him) and I am a queer dance-artist researcher and performance maker from Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand now living in Narrm/Melbourne. I use writing, improvisation, sound, video and objects in transdisciplinary performance that is attuned to other-than-human networks. My research is opposed to species extinction and extractive capitalism in attempt at relational forms of performance.

As a mover my background lies in contemporary technique, muscle and bone (MB), contact improvisation, ballet, hip hop, yoga and sports. I have been in productions in the Auckland and Wellington regions since 2015. Highlights have included Tino Sehgal’s Yet Untitled (2022), World of Wearable Arts (2015 & 18), and works with Footnote New Zealand Dance (2015-2019). In 2022 I started a Masters of Dance Studies at The University of Auckland where I created the solo performance, Sense (an)other (2023) performed at Rangipuke/Albert Park. Recently, I began my research as a Doctoral Candidate at The Victorian College of the Arts where I am a recipient of the Research Training Program Scholarship.

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EDUCATION

— Bachelor of Performing and Screen Arts
majoring in Contemporary Dance
Unitec

— Master of Dance Studies
The University of Auckland

— Doctoral Candidate for the
Doctor of Philosophy in Fine Art and Music program
The University of Melbourne

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Two people stand on opposite sides of a gallery wall, observing paintings as part of a site-responsive dance performance by Adam Boonprakob-Naughton.

Two contemporary dancers, one male and one female, perform under dramatic stage lighting, leaning back in unison as part of Adam Boonprakob-Naughton’s choreography.

A performer balances on a large tree root in a forest setting, wearing headphones and casual clothing, as part of dance research project by Adam Boonprakob-Naughton.

I create performance that prioritises sensation over spectacle through listening with the body in response to others (space, sound, audience, floor, image and text).
My choreography marries concepts (symbiosis, network, queerness) through embodying their traits and physicality in improvised and set material.
As a guest on these lands I try to tread gently and respectfully and listen for the stories and customs of First Nation and Torres Strait Islander peoples. I also bring my experience as a Pākehā (European New Zealander) from Aotearoa with English and Irish roots into my practice.