Atamira Dance Company is a

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

contemporary dance company in Aotearoa (

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

) based at the

Corban Estate Arts Centre Corban Estate Arts Centre is an arts precinct in West Auckland, New Zealand. Established in 2002 at the site of the Mt Lebanon Vineyard and Winery, the arts centre provides creative production, theatre and gallery space to New Zealand artists. ...

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

History

In 2000, the company was founded from a vision of Jack Gray's for a collective of young Māori dancers and choreographers to present dance projects relative to their shared cultural heritage and perspective. The founding members were Gray,

Dolina Wehipeihana Dolina Wehipeihana is a New Zealand Māori dancer, choreographer and theatre producer. She affiliates to Ngāti Raukawa and Ngati Tūkorehe iwi. Biography Cambridge, New Zealand is Wehipeihana's home town where she grew up. She went to Sacred H ...

, Louise Potiki Bryant and Justine Hohaia. The four met during 1999 while Gray and Wehipeihana were studying contemporary dance at UNITEC, subsequently becoming acquainted with Hohaia and Bryant at a tertiary

dance festival Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoire ...

. At that point Bryant was studying Māori Studies at

University of Otago , image_name = University of Otago Registry Building2.jpg , image_size = , caption = University clock tower , motto = la, Sapere aude , mottoeng = Dare to be wise , established = 1869; 152 years ago , type = Public research collegiate ...

and Hohaia at Wellington's New Zealand School of Dance. Potiki Bryant went on to study at the dance programme at UNITEC. Atamira Dance Company is part of a growth in contemporary Māori dance in New Zealand that started in the 1980s with companies like ''Te Kanikani O Te Rangatahi'' (1984) and ''Taiao'' (1988) created by Stephen Bradshaw. Then Merenia Gray started the ''Merenia Gray Dance Theatre'' in 1994. ''Okareka'' was formed in 2007 by

Taiaroa Royal Taiaroa Royal is the New Zealand dancer and choreographer. Early life and education Royal identifies with the iwi Te Arawa of the Rotorua and Bay of Plenty regions, Ngāti Raukawa, Uenukopako and Kāi Tahu of the South Island. As a teena ...

and

Taane Mete Taane Mete is a New Zealand dancer, choreographer and yoga teacher. Early life and education Mete affiliates with Ngāti Kahungunu and Ngāti Koroki-Kahukura. He graduated with honours from the New Zealand School of Dance in 1988. In 2008 he ...

. In 2008 the Atamira Dance Collective Charitable Trust was established with the aim to 'foster, promote and develop Māori Contemporary Dance by providing a platform for Māori choreographers and dancers to create, develop, teach and present work and to assist those choreographers and dancers to achieve those objects.' The company's core funders are

Creative New Zealand The Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa (Creative New Zealand) is the national arts development agency of the New Zealand government, investing in artists and arts organisations, offering capability building programmes and developing markets ...

, ASB Community Trust, Te Waka Toi and Toi Māori Aotearoa. In 2010 Moss Patterson was appointed as the first artistic director. In 2018 he resigned from his role and created his own company Tohu. Patterson has danced and choreographed for Atamira Dance Company, Black Grace Dance Company, Footnote Dance Company, and Touch Compass. He choreographed ''Te Paki,

Haka Haka (; plural ''haka'', in both Māori and English) are a variety of ceremonial performance art in Māori culture. It is often performed by a group, with vigorous movements and stamping of the feet with rhythmically shouted or chanted accompani ...

, Te Whenua, Whakairo,'' and ''Moko'' for Atamira Dance Company. In 2007, Patterson was awarded Best Choreography by TEMPO Dance Festival and Best New Choreographer in the NZ Listener for Whakairo. Generating thinking about Māori creativity and contemporary arts practice is part of their work; in 2010 they facilitated post show talks with Moana Nepia, Selwyn Muru, Dr Huhana Smith and Louise Potiki Bryant. Jack Gray was appointed artistic director following Patterson. The company is based in

West Auckland, New Zealand West Auckland ( mi, Te Uru o Tāmaki Makaurau) is one of the major geographical areas of Auckland, the largest city in New Zealand. Much of the area is dominated by the Waitākere Ranges, the eastern slopes of the Miocene era Waitākere volcano ...

About the Work

Atamira typically means stage, but a more in-depth meaning to the word relates to the process of caring for those who have died, and cam also be said to mean showcase or platform. The company takes their personal stories and that of their

whakapapa Whakapapa (, ), or genealogy, is a fundamental principle in Māori culture. Reciting one's whakapapa proclaims one's Māori identity, places oneself in a wider context, and links oneself to land and tribal groupings and the mana of those. Exp ...

to relate to Aotearoa's history and contemporary issues. They are Auckland based but diversity is reflected in different

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, ...

(tribal) connections from around New Zealand that the company members have. Review of the show ''Manaia'' at the Hannah Playhouse in Wellington in 2017.

"These works once again display Atamira's brilliance at conveying strong themes that move us with their heart and spirituality and excite us with the power of the Company's performances."

Shows

The programme of Atamira shows are often made up of shorter works that are combined into a season and tour. This list currently makes no distinction between the individual works and the combined presentation. *''Freshly Minted (2001)'' *''Sub-urban Legends'' ''(2002),'' Unitec Dance Studio *''Memoirs of Active Service (2006)'' choreographed by Maaka Pepene and score by Paddy Free to commemorate the Year of the Veteran, and inspired by a diary of Pepene's grandfather Jack Murphy. *''Whakairo (2007)'' *''Ngai Tahu 32 (2004)'' *''Taonga: Dust, Water, Wind (2009)'' *''Whetu (2010)'' *''Hou (2010)'' *''Te Urewera (2011)'' *''Te Houhi: The People and the Land are One'' (2011) *''Kaha: Short Works (2012)'' *''Tohu (2012)'' *''Moko (2015)'' Toured to the Beijing Dance Festival and the Chang Mu Dance Festival in 2015. Transformative set designed by Robin Rawstorne, with motion-triggered projections by Dan Mace and Puck Murphy and sound-score by Peter Hobbs. *''Mitimiti'' *''Awa: When two rivers collide (2017)'' choreographed by Moss Patterson. Collaboration with the Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra, the Auckland Chinese Philharmonic choir, guests dancers from China, and children's

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

Te Kura Kaupapa o te Kotuku. *''Atamira (2017)'' choreographed by Kelly Nash *''Onepū (2018)'' *''Pango (2018)'' choreographed by Moss Patterson, live music by Shayne Carter. Tour - China, Taiwan and New Zealand. *''Ngā Wai (2020)'' choreographed by Sean MacDonald, inspired by the

sacred waters Sacred waters are sacred natural sites characterized by tangible topographical land formations such as rivers, lakes, springs, reservoirs, and oceans, as opposed to holy water which is water elevated with the sacramental blessing of a cleric ...

of Wāimarama. Premiered at

Q Theatre The Q Theatre was a British theatre located near Kew Bridge in Brentford, west London, which operated between 1924 and 1958. It was built on the site of the former Kew Bridge Studios. The theatre, seating 490 in 25 rows with a central aisle, w ...

References

{{authority control Theatre companies in New Zealand Culture in Auckland Arts in New Zealand Māori culture in Auckland Dance companies in New Zealand 2000 establishments in New Zealand