Haka Theatre Dance Work Gets Under Your Skin

Celebrated Māori performance company Hawaiki TŪ present their award-winning production of Taurite. The work will premiere in Auckland at Q Theatre on the 1st and 2nd of December.

Firmly rooted within a Te Ao Māori worldview, Taurite is a powerful performance centred around the art of balance and duality.

A physical interpretation that fuses expressions of kapa haka, theatre and dance intertwined with ngā taonga tuku iho (treasures of traditional heritage steeped in ancestral roots), Taurite acknowledges the regeneration of customary practices and the current shift towards restoring mana māuri motuhake.

Taurite is a collaboration between Hawaiki TŪ and senior creatives from film, theatre, dance, music and haka sectors. This innovative and breath-taking performance is designed for the whole whānau.

Fresh back from touring North America with Black Grace, Artistic Director Kura says “Taurite is a trilogy work that was developed though the world reset...this iteration is centred around Māori customary practises and reflects on the metaphor ‘under my skin’ as an expression of cultural and societal realities”.

Taurite was commissioned by Auckland Live for the 2020 Fringe Town programme and is supported by Creative New Zealand, Q Theatre and TAPAC. The Development of Taurite was supported by the Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts.

Tickets can be purchased at https://www.qtheatre.co.nz/shows/taurite.

He whakaaturanga toi whakaari tēnei e whakaari ana i te moenga o ngā kawa tawhito, ki ngā momo mahi whakaari o āianei rangi. Ko te kapa haka tēnā, ko ngā mahi a Hine Rēhia tēnā, ko te ao toi whakaari Pākehā hoki tēnā, kua whakakotahihia mai, hei whakaaturanga whakamāuru i te tinana, i te hinengaro, i te wairua. Hei whakaari whakaoho ihirangaranga, kia tau ai te mauri, kia mauri tau, otirā, kia Taurite.

Koina te ingoa o tēnei whakaaturanga, ko Taurite, nā te ohu nei nā Hawaiki TŪ i waihanga. Ko ngā kaiwhakaari, he taniwha hiku roa i ō rātou nā ao. Tirohia te tuhinga Pākehā, kei reira katoa ngā kaiwhakaari e rārangi mai ana. Mō te whānau katoa tēnei whakaaturanga, nō reira nau mai piki mai, haere mai rā.

“Selling out this year’s Auckland Live Fringe Town and winner of ‘Pick of the Fringe’, ‘Best Dance’ and the ‘Auckland Arts Festival ‘Best of Fringe Award’, Haka Theatre company, Hawaiki TŪ’s powerful, Māori dance work, Taurite returns to the Auckland Town Hall for two limited performances.”

Auckland Live, 2020

“Kapa Haka and Māori Dance are blended to transcend worlds. Taurite translated as ‘The pursuit of Balance’ was described as a hidden gem in this year’s Auckland Fringe Festival. Developed with the support of Auckland Live and Creative New Zealand.”

The New Zealand Herald, 2020

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