Reviews of Memoirs of Active Service, 2006 Season
Maidment Studio season Friday 17 November 2006.
Excerpts of review by Bernadette Rae in NZ Herald
ATAMIRA Dance Company goes from strength to strength and is now the hotspot of contemporary
dance in Auckland. First-time choreographer Maaka Pepene does everything right in this Year of
the Veteran work, which cleverly and dramatically vignettes the world at war and war's human face.’
‘The final scene is a gorgeous and touching requiem, to Albinoni's Adagio, beautifully conceived
and performed.’
Sean MacDonald shimmers throughout, not just for his masterly performance but for his total
immersion in the drama of his role’
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Excerpts from review by Francesca Horsley for The NZ Listener
‘The camaraderie of wartime songs, sweltering heat and desert flies, and the longing for a
sweetheart, are captured by the dance theatre work Memoirs of Active Service. ATAMIRA Dance Company have a history of powerful, emotional works that draw directly on their whakapapa. choreographer Maaka Pepene has continued this strong tradition.
…….Pepene’s choreography,
wonderfully realised by five dancers, has a stylised 1940s feel. Each intense interlude appears
as a wartime snapshot from a vintage newsreel or movie. The farewell duet between husband,
MacDonald, and wife, Justine Hohaia, hints at Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire, with twirling lifts
and tender embraces…….The finale, an elegiac ensemble set to Albinoni, captures loss,
continuation and community. Pepene has always impressed with his fine dancing. Now, as
choreographer, he reveals an assurance and dramatic talent that holds much promise.’
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Best Dance of 2006 by Francesca Horsley for the NZ Listener
Best new work by emerging contemporary choreographer: Memoirs of Active Service, by Maaka Pepene, ATAMIRA Dance Company. An evocative, well-researched work that seamlessly integrated dance and theatrical elements, capturing the intensity and poignancy of the World War II era.
Best Female Contemporary Dancer Runner-up: Kelly Nash interpreted roles with flair, authenticity and empathy. Her excellence as a dancer was revealed in Black Milk, Nok Nok Turn and Memoirs of Active Service.
Memoirs of Active Service at the Rotorua Arts Festival reviewed by Mike Mather for the Daily Post Rotorua
Can the process of going to war be portrayed through dance?
It sounds like a contradiction in concepts, but Atamira has succeeded in doing so with their innovative production Memoirs of Active Service, which kicks off this year’s Rotorua Festival of Arts Programme.
The loose narrative follows the exploits of a group of five residents of a small rural town – three men and two women – at the outbreak of World War II.
The males of the group waste little time in joining the armed forces while the women, initially left bereft at home, eventually follow suit by enlisting in the navy.
Cleverly choreographed by Maaka Pepene, the show includes several innovative scenes including a brilliant adaptation of a parade ground drill, infusing it with fluidity and a seemingly joyous improvisation that would probably see any active soldier trying it out being placed on latrine duty for a month.
Other dance sequences based on swatting flies in the desert heat and a covert advance on enemy troops are equally inventive.
And the skills of the dancers will knock your socks off. This is one well drilled and extremely effective unit.
The binding element is the dynamic, pulsating musical score, composed by Paddy Free, as well as some carefully chosen songs from the 40s and some nice old standards like Click Go the Shears and the ever stirring Maori Battalion Marching Song.
Memoirs is perfect for those who have never sat through a full-length dance production and are wondering what it would be like. If you fit into this category, check this show out – it’s a call-up to active duty that should be responded to.
