Okareka Dance Company Premieres New Work in January

Okareka Dance Company Premieres New Work in January

Acrobatics and contemporary dance combine with Māori mythology in Okāreka Dance Company’s new major work WIRED.

WIRED premieres at Q Theatre in Auckland from 24-28 January.

Okāreka Dance Company artistic co-director Taiaroa Royal says the ambitious new work explores connection and what it is to be human in a chaotic world.

“The modern world is an artificial system of lines reaching from one person to the next; lines that touch, speak, listen and feel. WIRED reflects on notions of belonging and place and the lines, seen and unseen, that bind us together.”

Drawing inspiration from Māori and Pakeha mythology with Gods and demi gods who provoke a landscape of courage, battle and embrace, WIRED brings these worlds together face to face (Kanohi ki te Kanohi).

Featuring eight performers with a suspended set, WIRED is the first major new work created by Okareka Dance Company for four years.

Okareka Dance Company has assembled a formidable creative team to bring WIRED to the stage including choreographer Sarah Foster-Sproull (ORCHIDS), composer Eden Mulholland, set designer John Verryt, lighting designer Vanda Karolczak, costumes by Tanya Carlson and dramaturge Andrew Foster.

WIRED is at Q Theatre from 24-28 January. Tickets are available at www.qtheatre.co.nz

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ENDS

Okāreka Dance Company
Formed in 2007, Okāreka was established to fuse contemporary dance with indigenous Māori themes and other genres to create authentic, diverse works. Led by senior performers Taane Mete and Taiaroa Royal, Okāreka has become one of New Zealand’s most sought after and prolific dance companies.
Okāreka holds its provenance close to its heart. Through choreography, set design, and costume, the company strives to tell bold, spiritual stories that are of and from New Zealand. Through careful collaboration the company seeks to extend its creativity and its influence by engaging experienced artists from around the globe – the sole driver – to create evocative, beautiful dance works that tell a story.
Okāreka is a company guided by Māori beliefs. These beliefs are brought to its work and its audiences.

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