            NZ
            Free
            Community
            Local
    

THE GATHERING TIDE

Name: THE GATHERING TIDE
Start: 2026-10-26T19:00:00+12:00
End: 2026-10-26T20:00:00+12:00
Location: TĀHUNANUI BEACH

Chloe Loftus

Dance Free & Koha

A sunset event of collective joy.

Tāhunanui Beach becomes the stage as internationally acclaimed local artist Chloe Loftus brings the community of Whakatū together in a bold, large-scale celebration of place and belonging.

Featuring local people at the heart of the work, this immersive sunset experience transforms the shoreline into a living expression of community, belonging and collective joy. As dusk falls, audiences are invited on a cinematic journey that celebrates this iconic landscape, of which we individually and collectively share such deep resonance.

Through movement, music and a sense of ritual, everyday locals emerge across the beach and come together in a powerful shared moment. The experience culminates with an invitation to a collective swim, a beach fire and dance party beneath the night sky, featuring DJ Alvaro Saura Moreno.

Stay tuned for ways to participate in this one-off festival experience.

Chloe Loftus

Chloe Loftus is a force of nature when it comes to dance. Raised in New Zealand, Chloe headed to the UK for her training and founded Chloe Loftus Dance in 2005. She has since made her mark as a dancer, choreographer, and mass movement director. Her achievements include being nominated for a Theatre Critics of Wales Award for Best Small Scale Dance Production, winning Welsh Independent Dance’s ‘Dance Bytes’, choreographing for Cultural Olympiad events, numerous music and arts festivals and receiving Arts Council and Creative New Zealand funding.

Chloe’s work is rooted in contemporary and aerial dance, passionate about outdoor arts, cultivating community and inclusivity. Her work is renowned for creating mesmerising and emotive experiences, magnetising the connection between artist and audience.

Chloe returned to Aotearoa in 2016, receiving commissions, funding and touring many works and was a CNZ Fellowship recipient. Her international reputation continues to flourish, touring her inclusive aerial work, The Air Between Us, to 31 festivals across 13 countries.