Drawing on mythology and historical figures set against the backdrop of Te Motu-o-Kura, Ngā Wai is a full-length dance work from one of Aotearoa’s most distinguished dance artists – Sean MacDonald (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Raukawa)
Seers, shapeshifters, warrior protectors, lovers and thwarted romance from both history and mythology form the essence of this poetic new work inspired from the sacred waters and whakapapa of Waimārama, Sean’s ancestral home in the Hawkes Bay. Ngā Wai is about water and how that flows with everything, is in everything, the pool and flow of the moon and the maternal. It flows with connection, history and strength following the journey of Takitimu (migration waka) from Samoa to Waimārama.
“Waimārama has a very strong feminine energy and this work is designed to hold up mana and respect for the wahine toa of my whakapapa. It has evolved in what has been a crazy year, where I’ve personally aimed to go with the flow and not fight it. You hope that in this, like the whakatuaki “Kia rere te wairere,” the flow goes to places of positivity” says MacDonald.
The multi-faceted characters resurrected from tribal history to tell the tale of Ngā Wai are brought to life by a cast of exquisite dance artists – Bianca Hyslop, Brydie Colquhoun, Kasina Campbell, Jeremy Beck, Tupua Tigafua and Sean himself. With an incredible design team on board including John Verryt (Set), Vanda Karolczak (Lighting) , David Long (Sound and Composition), Te Orihau Karaitiana (Costumes), and Osborne Shiwan (Campaign Design) Ngā Wai is a celebration of Aotearoa’s most creative performance artists and the wealth of stories that are held by Māori.
TĀHUHU KŌRERO
2021
Friday 16th April 2021
Waimarama Memorial Hall
2020
Premiere
Tāmaki Makaurau | 26 — 28 November 2020
Q Theatre
"The name adhering to the plurality of waters that exist in ourselves, landscapes, and the cosmos we inhabit, we flowed into community to share stories. The Q Theatre was moving with whānaunga gathered... it was a maze of re-activating relationships inclusive of our lingering gaze, and touch."
Dr Tia Reihana-Morunga
