New Zealand’s Atamira Dance Company presents Māori contemporary dance on Maui

The Maui Arts & Cultural Center presents New Zealand’s Atamira Dance Company, the world’s foremost creator and presenter of Māori contemporary dance theater, with the Maui premiere of the evening-length Te Wheke.

The performance is in Castle Theater Friday, March 24 at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets go on sale online only Tuesday, March 7 at 10 a.m.

For 21 years, Atamira Dance Company has dedicated its worldwide platform to uplifting indigenous voices and carrying forth the traditions and cultural identity of Aotearoa, New Zealand.

For the company’s MACC performance, they draw inspiration from the powers of a great oceanic mythological creature-The Octopus-in Te Wheke for an evening-length work that journeys through the esoteric dimensions of the human experience.

Drawing from the late Rangimarie Rose Pere’s model of hauora (wellbeing) and building upon eight Mātauranga Māori dimensions of health, dancers create a fluid, beautiful work within a shape-shifting world of floating black silk, reminiscent of the majesty of the title creature itself.

Pere was a renowned New Zealand educationalist, spiritual leader, Māori language advocate, academic and conservationist. Bringing their signature, complex and thoughtfully-crafted choreography, Atamira Dance Company continues to keep the voices of its home alive through the international language of movement.

Atamira Dance Company is the leading creator and presenter of Māori contemporary dance theatre, driven by choreographic and design excellence. Based in Aotearoa, New Zealand, where indigenous Māori stories are a powerful voice in the arts locally and, increasingly, internationally.

As a dance collective, the company offers a rich and diverse program guided by high caliber choreographers. Its research-based practice keeps them at the forefront of cultural and technical innovation, a process of deep collaboration and genuine openness to risk-taking and experimentation.

Single choreographic dance works are the heartbeat of the company, which they perform at international arts festivals across the globe.

They celebrate and share Māori culture through the arts, and grow the arts through cultural innovation. As well as single dance works, they have created a number of important large-scale performances in collaboration with other arts organizations.

Tickets for the Maui performance are $35, $50, $65 plus applicable fees. MACC members receive a 10% discount and tickets for keiki 12 and under are half price. Tickets go on sale online only at 10 a.m. Tuesday, March 7.

To become a MACC member and receive advance purchase privileges on select shows, ticket discounts and other benefits, patrons may log on to MauiArts.org/membership.

All ticket sales are online only at MauiArts.org. The MACC Box Office is not open for window sales but is available for ticketing inquiries only Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., by phone at 808-242-SHOW (7469) or email [email protected].