Atamira - sexuality, solitude, and death

Media Release: For Immediate Release
SEXUALITY, SOLITUDE AND DEATH -
A NEW WORK BY ATAMIRA DANCE COMPANY
‘Atamira’ – choreographed by Kelly Nash

Atamira Dance Company’s new full-length work ‘Atamira’ will hold a mirror up to itself to discover the importance of people, relationships and life when it premiers at Corbans Estate Arts Centre, 13th – 16th December. Expressed through a Māori worldview, Atamira is an intimate contemporary dance work blending themes of sexuality, solitude, ageing and death.

Atamira boasts an unbelievable cast including the prolific and unstoppable Nancy Wijohn, whose dance work has taken her around New Zealand, the Pacific, Hawai’i and the US; Daniel Cooper, known to audiences internationally from stunning reviews in the New York Times; and Sean MacDonald, founding member of Black Grace Dance Company. It also features impressive talent by way of Brydie Colquhoun, Imogen Tapara, Rosie Tapsell and Milly Kimberly Grant.

Kelly Nash (Mā, Manaia) is one of New Zealand’s leading dancers and choreographers, touring work nationally and internationally for many years. Nash has held residencies at Kahawi Dance Centre and Banff Centre for the Arts in Canada, and in 2012 received the highly sought after Tup Lang Chroegraphic Development Award after which she presented MEME skin at the Tempo Dance Festival and as part of En Route at the Maidment Theatre.

In Atamira, Nash has opened up a conversation about how we experience death in our lives. The result is a stunning piece that interweaves the themes of love, loss and hope through an utterly original framework.

The process of making Atamira was a revelatory experience, Nash was inspired to discover the historic use of the word – ‘a process of caring for those who have died’:

“Auspiciously my partners mother passed on the first day of rehearsal for this new work "Atamira". This work is dedicated to her and my grandmother and all those who have lost someone. There is such a deep subtext that even the dancers at times are unaware what they are communicating, a memory, an impulse or an instinct can be the trigger for movement. It’s the challenge of the choreographer to frame their subtle suggestions.”

Praise for Atamira Dance Company:

These works once again display Atamira's brilliance at conveying strong themes that move us with their heart and spirituality and excite us with the power of the Company's performances.
– The Dominion Post

Memorable, captivating moments when the set and the movement work as one – imagine a dancer caught mid air by the set and you have a motivation to go and see this work.
– Metro

Atamira Dance Company aims to work with young artists who connect Atamira’s kaupapa and a practice that is steeped in indigenous ideology with their self-expression. The invitation of new talent is essential to creating access for promising dancers to a company that upholds strong cultural principals.

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