Poster of the Week: Atamira Dance Company Presents WHETU

As the Maori New Year dawns upon Aotearoa, it is a time for whanau to come together and reflect on the past and the future. Matariki is celebrated through a variety of different arts in its many forms also – including performances unique to the Maori culture.

Atamira celebrate Maori culture through their contemporary works and much like the defining spirituality of Matariki, Whetu promotes the future of the company with it’s rising stars and emerging choreographers while bringing some of the collectives previous works to the forefront.

Shooting onto the stage are works by established Atamira choreographers Maaka Pepene, Jack Gray and Moss Patterson which are performed alongside celebrated pieces by pioneering Maori dance choreographers Charles Koroneho (He Taura Whakapapa) and Stephen Bradshaw (Mauri)

A founding member of Te Kanikani O Te Rangatahi and lecturer of Dance Theory at UNITEC, Koroneho has danced with many of this country’s top choreographers; Koroneho's work involves cultural collaboration, the development of interculturalism, performance art and cultural consultancy, exploring the collision between Maori cosmology, New Zealand society and global cultures.

Bradshaw’s work, Mauri, has been cited as one of the first examples of Maori contemporary dance with it modern interpretation of traditional Maori themes dealing with life force. One of the previous stand out works of Atamira, mixing elements of dance with kapa haka, the work has gone on to be part of the curriculum in NZ dance schools.

Atamira will sing, dance and perform to the ancient chants of their ancestors, celebrate the achievements of the Maori battalion and reinvent rock ‘n’ roll with a return to the Happy Days era.

Whetu will celebrate Matariki – the coming of the New Year of Maori cosmology.

Whetu tours:

Hamilton – Telecom Playhouse – June 16th and 17th. Ph: 07 8585100 www.ticketek.co.nz

Rotorua – Arts Village – June 19th and 20th Ph: 09 3700486

Wellington – Te Papa (Kowhiti Festival) – June 24th, 25th, 26th and 27th Ph: 04 384 2294 www.ticketek.co.nz

Auckland – Hawkins Theatre (Papakura) – June 29th. Ph: 09 2977712 www.ticketek.co.nz

Ticket Prices
$12 -15 Concession (Student, DANZ Member, Child, Senior citizen, Unwaged, Group 6+) $18 -30 Adult.