New Zealand’s leading Maori Contemporary Dance Company, Atamira is partnering with Western Australia’s premiere intercultural performance company, Marrugeku, to present the third International Indigenous Choreographic Laboratory in Auckland from the 18th November to the 8th December.
Together the two companies will welcome contemporary Indigenous dance artists from WA, and NSW in Australia and from New Zealand to Auckland to explore key creative challenges that face contemporary Indigenous dance.
The International Indigenous Choreographic Laboratories (Sydney , NSW 2009, Broome, WA 2010) have been curated by Dalisa Pigram and Rachael Swain, Marrugeku's Co-Arttistic Directors and are part of Marrugeku's 5 year strategy to expolre resonances and diffrences in contemporary indigenous performing arts contexts around the world. Each laboratory has seen two experienced and dynamic indigenous contemporary dancers share their knowledge and creative practices with some of Australia and New Zealand's most talented independent indigenous performers.
The 2011 laboratory is hosted by Atamira Dance Company and is being facilitated by Louise Potiki Bryant, and Professor Te Ahukaramu Charles Royal; from University of Auckland and Orotokare – Arts, Story, Motion; a leading exponent on whare tapere.
The facilitators, together with Atamira’s and Marrugeku’s artistic directors, will lead participants in exploration and discussion about the relationship between Indigenous cultural contexts, with the 2011 lab focusing specifically on New Zealand, and the making of contemporary dance. The participants will develop their own choreographic practice during the laboratory in negotiation with the dancers from multiple cultural backgrounds participating in the lab.
The Auckland based Indigenous Cultural Laboratory is the third and final in a series of laboratories which are drawing upon the skills of world renown Indigenous contemporary dance artists, particularly those from West Africa and the Asia Pacific region. The first Lab, held in Sydney in 2009 saw Serge Aimé Coulibaly (Burkina Faso) and Maori performance artist Charles Koroneho (New Zealand) work with a group of 12 Australian and New Zealand independent dance artists. The 2nd lab in Broome was lead by Jecko Siompo (Papua) who is considered one of Indonesia’s leading contemporary dancers and choreographers having worked in international dance events throughout Asia, Europe and the United States of America and Andréya Ouamba (Senegal) an acclaimed Congo born dancer/choreographer who has traveled and performed with his company Compagnie 1er Temps throughout Africa, Europe and most recently in the United States of America.
This international dialogue between both Atamira Dance Company and Marrugeku is an important part of the development of our indigenous choreographic dance practise. The experience is also invaluable for the independent dance artists involved, enabling them to enhance their skills to be able to develop innovative new work in their own culturally specific contexts.
The Indigenous Cultural Laboratory has been made possible with the support of The Australia Council for the Arts and Creative New Zealand.
The Lab will run over 10 days, 28th November -8th December 2011, in Auckland, New Zealand. Forums will be held internally during the laboratory to explore notions of creating contemporary Indigenous performance and pathways towards sustainable public forms of culture.
