Press Kit - FTA
Press Kit - FTA Press Kit - FTA
PRESS KIT 5 TH EDITION MAY 26 - JUNE 11, 2011 TEMPEST: WITHOUT A BODY DANCE JUNE 10, 11, 2011 LEMI PONIFASIO COMPANY MAU AUCKLAND Press kits consist of material sent by the company that produces the show, original material and research conducted by the festival team.
- Page 2 and 3: PRESS QUOTES “Made in response to
- Page 4 and 5: « Il n'empêche que se pose la que
- Page 6 and 7: another Pina Bausch! Contemporary i
- Page 8 and 9: We are fighting for our own meta-au
- Page 10 and 11: LEMI PONIFASIO’S BIOGRAPHY Lemi P
- Page 12: 2002 Suppression of Terrorism Act,
PRESS KIT<br />
5 TH EDITION MAY 26 - JUNE 11, 2011<br />
TEMPEST: WITHOUT A BODY DANCE<br />
JUNE 10, 11, 2011<br />
LEMI PONIFASIO<br />
COMPANY MAU<br />
AUCKLAND<br />
<strong>Press</strong> kits consist of material sent by the company that produces the show, original material and research<br />
conducted by the festival team.
PRESS QUOTES<br />
“Made in response to the 9/11 attacks, this timeless ritual is as much a work of<br />
visual art as a dance performance. But as dance it is far from conventional. The<br />
eleven-strong cast hails from various South Pacific locations and purportedly none<br />
have trained at ballet academies or drama colleges. (Indeed, one is an erstwhile<br />
shark fisherman.) In realising Ponifasio’s cautionary vision of apocalypse they<br />
have created a piece of demanding and epic stage poetry.<br />
The opening moments were an onslaught of wailing, rumbling sound that pinned<br />
us to our seats. Once the storm began to (temporarily) subside, we observed a<br />
small, winged woman staring up at a vast corrugated backdrop.<br />
Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the Playhouse stage, a bare-chested man<br />
passed through a series of measured hand and arm signals. The female angel<br />
screamed four times and later the man squatted and undulated his back as if<br />
trying to sprout wings himself.<br />
During the next 90 minutes Ponifasio offered us other stark, dreamy images, slow<br />
ritualistic movements and fleeting presences. Several monk-like men dressed<br />
identically in black sped about with small steps, slapped their own thighs or<br />
gestured in precise unison. A human creature on all fours paced restlessly inside<br />
the borders of a cage of light. A nude body, painted silver, slid on to an upstage<br />
table and eventually vanished into inky, swamp-like blackness.<br />
Two thirds of the way through, a stout, commanding man delivered a fierce rant<br />
punctuated with grimaces, finger jabs and spitting. Although it was in Samoan, he<br />
needed no translation. Graced with extraordinary lighting (by Helen Todd),<br />
Ponifasio’s production was occasionally agonising but, ultimately, deeply<br />
rewarding in its suggestion of how badly we need to take responsibility for<br />
ourselves and society.”<br />
Donald Hutera, The Times, 08/15/2010<br />
“Refer to Mau, the creative organization Ponifasio founded in 1995, as a dance<br />
company and he'll tell you that it is a "very old idea". He prefers the term<br />
community. Ask about the dancers with whom he works, none of whom has had<br />
what we would understand as a conventional dance training at a dance or drama<br />
school, and he'll explain that where he is from, everyone is expected to dance. "For<br />
us to sing, to dance, to conduct ceremonies, it's part of your life. You're expected<br />
as a citizen to do that, it's normal, it's a part of growing up. A farmer can dance, a<br />
student can dance. None of these people have ever been to dance school, but they<br />
are dancers. The dance is created not in a vacuum but in the community."”<br />
Claire Black, The Scotsman, 08/09/2010<br />
PRESS KIT TEMPEST: WITHOUT A BODY 1
« Attention titre trompeur ! Tempest II de Lemi Ponifasio présenté par le KVS et le<br />
KunstenFestivaldesArts retient peu de traits communs avec la Tempête de<br />
Shakespeare mais n’en offre pas moins une belle bourrasque chorégraphique. De<br />
l’île de Prospero, il reste surtout l’atmosphère féerique, inquiétante, mais aussi<br />
les questions de territoire, d’invasion et d’injustice que le chorégraphe originaire<br />
de Samoa a transposées au contexte des Maoris, ethnie décimée et dépouillée de<br />
Nouvelle-Zélande. Plutôt qu’une narration classique, la compagnie MAU (du nom<br />
du mouvement d’indépendance samoan) vise une sorte d’extase cérémonielle, une<br />
prière en mouvements mêlant la danse guerrière du haka, la maîtrise zen du butô<br />
et des traditions issues des peuples du Pacifique Sud. Sans aucun folklore mais<br />
avec un minimalisme et une lenteur rituels. Au risque de la froideur.<br />
Archi-stylisées, la mise en scène, les lumières et la scénographie nous plongent<br />
dans un décor sombre. Sur un monumental bloc suspendu, seul un océan de<br />
rouge rampant, symbole de la destruction physique et culturelle de la race des<br />
Maoris par les colons anglais, viendra rompre cette immensité noire dans laquelle<br />
évoluent une dizaine de danseurs, tous des hommes, avec une présence tantôt<br />
fantomatique, tantôt bestiale. Qu’ils avancent à pas minuscules comme des<br />
geishas affairées ou se tapent les cuisses dans de millimétrées chorégraphies<br />
belliqueuses, leur maîtrise du corps est époustouflante. »<br />
Catherine Makereel, Le Soir, 17/05/2008<br />
« Ses onze danseurs sont vêtus de sarong et de chemises noires, sauf un qui se<br />
mêle au spectacle pour faire une haka, le visage couvert de dessins tribaux ; c'est<br />
Tame Iti, leader maori, actuellement en liberté provisoire. Cette révolte là n'est<br />
pas évoquée spécialement, mais toute la pièce est hantée par la lutte contre les<br />
ténèbres : l'Ange hurle son impuissance et lève une main couverte de sang,<br />
apparition baroque dans ce rituel magnifiquement sobre, hanté par les esprits<br />
d'outre tombe.<br />
Tempest envoûte par la beauté de ses images. Nul décor, hormis un grand<br />
rectangle argenté qui tombe des ceintres. Nul costume remarquable. Juste le noir<br />
de la scène éclairée d'un rai de lumière où les corps surgissent et façonnent des<br />
visions singulières. Ici un homme, mi fauve mi primate, marchant en rond à<br />
quatre pattes, jambes et bras tendus, et se heurtant à l'ombre comme s'il était<br />
pris dans un piège de lumière. Là un buste fantôme qui perce l'obscurité, muscles<br />
saillants et vivants. Ou encore, la lente et magnifique reptation d'un homme qui<br />
s'extraie des profondeurs et rampe le dos collé à une cage lumineuse. »<br />
Ariane Bavelier, Le Figaro, 29/01/2010<br />
PRESS KIT TEMPEST: WITHOUT A BODY 2
« Il n'empêche que se pose la question des clés du spectacle, enraciné dans une<br />
culture lointaine et méconnue. Si l'on ne connaît pas, par exemple, l'identité de<br />
l'homme - il s'agit du chef maori Tama Iti - en train de danser et chanter le haka,<br />
fameuse danse exportée dans le monde grâce aux rugbymen néo-zélandais,<br />
l'engagement politique de Ponifasio perd une partie de son acuité, et le spectacle<br />
de son sens militant.<br />
Le texte dit par Tama Iti, non traduit sur le plateau, est une apostrophe virulente<br />
sur les conditions de survie du peuple maori décimé et dépossédé de ses terres.<br />
Mercredi 27 janvier, un homme s'est dressé dans le public pour dialoguer<br />
quelques secondes avec Tama Iti. Les spectateurs se demandaient s'il faisait<br />
partie de la pièce... Il s'agissait d'un émissaire samoan envoyé par l'ambassade de<br />
Nouvelle-Zélande, à la demande de Ponifasio, pour répondre à Iti comme le veut<br />
la tradition locale. Il faut le savoir pour en tirer la moelle. Considéré comme une<br />
sorte de chef dans son village, Ponifasio, qui est militant, veut se faire<br />
l'ambassadeur politique de ces régions. Il l'est, mais laisse le spectateur devant<br />
un rébus, aussi puissant soit-il. »<br />
Rossita Boisseau, Le Monde, 29/01/2010<br />
PRESS KIT TEMPEST: WITHOUT A BODY 3
INTERVIEW WITH LEMI PONIFASIO<br />
Tempest: Without A Body was created in response to the post-9/11 world and is<br />
imbued with Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Paul Klee’s Angelus Novus and the<br />
ideas of the Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben. What is the link between<br />
these disparate elements?<br />
I think we are living in an era of disinterest in getting involved in the community or<br />
in the world at large. Some people think that politics or war exists only in the<br />
media, or that issues of world peace or poverty do not concern them. I began this<br />
piece because people around me were affected by America’s post-9/11 policies,<br />
with governments assuming more and more power over the lives of ordinary<br />
citizens, which is very dangerous. In New Zealand, for example, there is the case<br />
of an Algerian refugee imprisoned for four years without trial, with no official<br />
statements as to why or what the charges are. It is not democratic. In a<br />
democracy it is the courts that decide, not Washington politicians laying down the<br />
law for us. And Tame Iti, who is a Maori activist who plays a role in this piece, was<br />
arrested and accused of terrorism for defending his ancestral lands. Although I<br />
love to dance to the music of the wind, it is urgent that we artists make a positive<br />
contribution to the world we live in.<br />
As for Shakespeare, that is a bit of an accident. I wanted to stage someone else’s<br />
work for once, and I found that The Tempest was quite pertinent when it comes to<br />
speaking about power and the condition of contemporary society. But it is fiction<br />
and I was looking for authenticity, which left room for onstage testimonials. As for<br />
Giorgio Agamben and Walter Benjamin, whose description of the Paul Klee<br />
painting is a good fit with the rest of the piece, they are thinkers who also study<br />
political change and the human condition. They are familiar references for<br />
Europeans and other Westerners, and thus help me to speak to the audience<br />
about my work.<br />
How did Tame Iti, the Maori chief who bared his buttocks at the Queen of<br />
England to protest the expropriation of his people’s lands, end up in the piece?<br />
There are a lot shows entitled Tempest that do not resemble the piece that I am<br />
bringing to Canada. Tame Iti invited me to present it to commemorate the first<br />
anniversary of the police raids on his community. I said, “Fine, but we’ll present it<br />
outdoors and we’ll involve local people.” And that was what we did, and then the<br />
adventure with him continued. Of course, the people I usually work with at MAU<br />
were also involved in the project. They have been with me for 15 or 16 years, and I<br />
believe I’ll be spending the rest of my life with them. I do not choose artists for my<br />
productions. The performers are friends and acquaintances, and creating work is<br />
how we live as an artistic community. We come from different islands in the South<br />
Seas and we’re looking for a powerful platform for critical reflection and creativity,<br />
a place to talk about our images, our songs, our poetry and our aesthetics. In<br />
Europe I’m often asked if what I do is contemporary dance. I don’t want to be<br />
PRESS KIT TEMPEST: WITHOUT A BODY 4
another Pina Bausch! Contemporary is not a synonym for European, but a<br />
reflection of what is going on in the world today and what I am trying to do.<br />
Several European critics have mentioned the strength of your piece and<br />
emphasized its impenetrability, but for you it has a ceremonial dimension that is<br />
futile to try to explain.<br />
I think that the body will always remain a secret for us. Our bodies have been<br />
formed culturally, politically and socially, long before our birth. So my body<br />
speaks for my body, and dance does not serve my ideas. For me, presence is<br />
more important than form, and if I dance, it is primarily to create the opportunity<br />
for encounters. I try to create theatre that is ceremony, a space that includes<br />
everyone, rather than being on stage as if to say “Look at how I dance.” I try to<br />
create occasions where we can set our egos aside and become more sensitive,<br />
more vulnerable, more aware of others and of everything that is not us.<br />
By Fabienne Cabado<br />
PRESS KIT TEMPEST: WITHOUT A BODY 5
TAME ITI’S SPEECH IN TEMPEST<br />
TE MANA MOTUHAKE O TUHOE<br />
Your Majesty, Queen of England<br />
My mother is the mist; my father is the mountain,<br />
Enquire as to where the mountain and the mist come from and I will tell you that<br />
is where I come from.<br />
The great Ariki, Toi and Potiki give me the right to stake my claim. Tuhoe gives<br />
me my sovereignty, the right to determine my own destiny. I am standing before<br />
all, a descendant of Tuhoe. Tuhoe is my dominion that keeps chaos at bay. It is<br />
what connects me to myself.<br />
Our great ancestors carried the desires and dreams of Tuhoe, symbolizing the<br />
Tuhoe presence. They held the mauri, the internal drive, and the courage to hold<br />
fast to their dreams and their way of life. Te Urewera our territory is our marae<br />
and every person is responsible for his or her marae. You situate yourself where<br />
your strength is, beside your ancestral house. This is your genealogy, your<br />
skeleton, and your backbone as you look across your marae; your customs and<br />
traditions become the rules of behavior, the code of conduct within the designated<br />
grounds.<br />
Tuhoe invented philosophies so not to be enslaved by the philosophies of others.<br />
Our Mana Motuhake therefore is to maintain the continuity and the consistency by<br />
being allowed to express the Tuhoe traditions. We have however become<br />
disconnected from our philosophies and become entrapped in the philosophies of<br />
others; actions that seek to erode and disconnect us from our traditions are<br />
actions that seek to enslave us within the regulatory frameworks of others.<br />
PRESS KIT TEMPEST: WITHOUT A BODY 6
We are fighting for our own meta-autonomy, those practices that gave rise to our<br />
current existence within our own sovereignties, the face of our ancestors, the<br />
divinity of gods and humanity. We remain resolute in maintaining the boundaries<br />
of our marae. The marae is an example of the dominion of Tuhoe over its lands;<br />
the meetinghouse is what gives value to the origins of the mountains and the mist.<br />
The price of the liberty that the many peoples of Tuhoe sort to maintain was then<br />
and remains to this day, the will and purposefulness of knowing, being, and<br />
protecting the integrity of who you are, and not in the explanation of ourselves to<br />
others. The earth does not explain itself to mankind. It was here first. If you want<br />
to find out who we are, my responses may not be of much help.<br />
Tuhoe have been criticized and reprioritized in the written records of those who<br />
have sort to drag us from the Te Urewera. We have been scorned as slow in<br />
coming forward and unwilling to accept development and we have been labeled as<br />
selfish and fundamentalists.<br />
Nevertheless it is now becoming clear to others why Tuhoe have conducted<br />
themselves in the way in which they have, as it is upon this conduct that their<br />
liberty depends. I too have a dream<br />
To be able to claim that we are free<br />
We are the lake<br />
The lake is us<br />
We are the mountain<br />
The mountain is us<br />
We are the forest<br />
And the forest is us<br />
We are the stars<br />
There is one spirit in all creation<br />
That is the unity of all creation<br />
That is what our ancestors passed on<br />
Our lands were stolen<br />
So too were our gardens and our cultivations<br />
Our ancestors were abducted and moved from their homes<br />
Away from the lake<br />
Away from our food sources<br />
And our ancestors lived in abject poverty with little food<br />
That is why I describe you as people who consume their own mother<br />
You desecrated our ancestor papatuanuku<br />
Our Earth-mother<br />
You dug her up<br />
You ripped up her bones<br />
And you trampled upon our mother<br />
When you arrived our beliefs were in insects, the rivers, the birds, and the trees<br />
PRESS KIT TEMPEST: WITHOUT A BODY 7
And in the creation of Tane, god of the forest and humans<br />
They were gods among gods<br />
You come and tell us your god is the true belief<br />
And whats more you bring your god who is judgmental<br />
December 25th 1869<br />
The Christians celebrated the birth of Jesus Christ<br />
The time Christians proclaim peace throughout the land and good will to all<br />
people<br />
That was the day the Christians invaded our lands<br />
Our homes, they despoiled the land<br />
Raped our women and children<br />
And murdered our ancestors<br />
Your absolute goal from the beginning was to blunder, to confiscate and to<br />
oppress the independence and sovereignty of Tuhoe<br />
The genesis of this ideology is in your supreme belief that fair civilization is<br />
superior<br />
Your laws are superior<br />
Your institutions are superior<br />
Your god is superior<br />
Your language is superior<br />
Your physical look is superior<br />
And to this day you still believe in your superiority<br />
I stand here before you wondering of my redemption<br />
I look at the endless horizon<br />
Questioning my direction<br />
Questioning the fairness of life<br />
Questioning justice<br />
Dreaming of a better life for my people<br />
I too have a dream<br />
I too have children and a family<br />
I too want to be free<br />
I too will die like you<br />
Then you and I will become the one body of Papatuanuku<br />
Lemi Ponifasio created the text for the Te Mana Motuhake o Tuhoe speech from views<br />
expressed by members of Ngai Tuhoe before the Waitangi Tribunal, 2005.<br />
PRESS KIT TEMPEST: WITHOUT A BODY 8
LEMI PONIFASIO’S BIOGRAPHY<br />
Lemi Ponifasio was born in the village of Lano, Samoa. He is a high Chief of<br />
Samoa. He is a leader in the development of contemporary Pacific arts, dance and<br />
theatre. Ponifasio studied philosophy and politics at the University of Auckland in<br />
New Zealand, where he started to experiment with performance. He trained in<br />
ballet and contemporary dance before dedicating himself to the development of<br />
his own dance. A provocative and inspirational choreographer, his dance world is<br />
inhabited by humans, animals, gods and demi-gods. His radical approach to<br />
contemporary performance exists in state of ceremony and in between the<br />
elements of dance, theatre, oratory and visual arts. Ponifasio founded MAU in<br />
1995, naming it after the Samoan independence movement Mau. Mau means<br />
vision or revolution. Ponifasio travels throughout the Pacific region collaborating<br />
with master artists, musicians, orators, navigators, priests, architects and<br />
villages. He also presents his works in major international arts festivals such as<br />
the Venice Biennale, Holland Festival, Vienna Festival, Adelaide Festival and<br />
Theater Der Welt.<br />
KunstenFestivaldesarts, Brussels<br />
PRESS KIT TEMPEST: WITHOUT A BODY 9
PRESENTATION OF THE COMPANY MAU<br />
Lemi Ponifasio's dancers belong to the 20 percent Maori, the original inhabitants<br />
of New Zealand, or to the 5 percent migrant communities from the South Pacific<br />
Islands. MAU's work is radically contemporary in its esthetics, but draws heavily<br />
on the traditions of the South Pacific peoples. Ponifasio wrests these traditions<br />
from their folkloric context after due consideration with his dancers, the bearers of<br />
that cultural heritage. He revitalises the past and connects it to the present. In a<br />
society which hasn't yet finished dealing with its colonial past, which wavers<br />
between the Commonwealth and the Pacific, this is a political act. In the<br />
performance of Tempest which we saw on our trip, Ponifasio goes one step further.<br />
TEMPEST: THE FIGHT FOR (CIVIL) RIGHTS<br />
Against the background of Shakespeare's Tempest, which is notably about<br />
institutional injustice, he gives the stage to Tame Iti, famous in New Zealand as a<br />
controversial Maori activist. In an hour and a half, Tame Iti explains how the<br />
European New Zealanders attempted to eradicate his culture and language. Yet<br />
Tempest is not only the story of a cultural emancipation or the struggles of<br />
indigenous peoples. By beginning the representation with a one-minute-long silent<br />
shot of the Algerian Ahmed Zaoui, a former ISF militant who sought political<br />
asylum in New Zealand and was subsequently held for 5 years without any form of<br />
trial, Ponifasio expressly locates his Tempest against the current backdrop of the<br />
loss of civil rights. The War on Terror unleashed by Bush and Co. has created a<br />
climate in which Western governments have implemented a repressive legal<br />
framework which undermines basic civil rights. In passing, these laws have been<br />
misused to put radical domestic opponents behind bars. Ponifasio's analysis in<br />
Tempest draws heavily on the reflections of Giorgio Agamben, an Italian political<br />
philosopher. According to Agamben, a number of state measures should no longer<br />
be seen as exceptional, but will rather form the new 'normality' for relations with<br />
citizens. Electronic fingerprints, eye or scent scans, subcutaneous tatoos and<br />
other techniques developed for the 'dangerous class' of citizens are already being<br />
widely applied to citizens. "In recent years," says Agamben, "an attempt has been<br />
made to make means of control which had always rightly been considered<br />
inhuman and exceptional, acceptable as humane and normal dimensions of our<br />
lives."<br />
'TERRORIST' TAME ITI IMPRISONED<br />
When we saw it performed in March 2007 in MAU's rehearsal space, a converted<br />
barn, Tempest revealed a remarkable foresight. Less than six months later, on 15<br />
October 2007, Tame Iti was picked up with 16 other 'terrorist suspects' in a brutal<br />
police raid. What had they been up to? They had devoted themselves to social<br />
change, ecological reform, and the return of vital land to the Maori. The Maori<br />
have been treated wretchedly for hundreds of years and have lost all their lands.<br />
Their language was only officially recognized in the early nineties. Much remains<br />
to be done today, too: average Maori life expectancy and their level of employment<br />
are much lower than those of other New Zealanders. That the police and the<br />
judiciary were serious in their reprisals, is proven by the perfidious fact that the<br />
PRESS KIT TEMPEST: WITHOUT A BODY 10
2002 Suppression of Terrorism Act, voted directly after 9/11, was used<br />
indiscriminately and shamelessly. Maori activists had at once said that it would<br />
just be a matter of time before that law would be used against them. Because of<br />
that law, those arrested had been followed, filmed and wiretapped for months.<br />
Shortly after the raid, the New Zealand government rushed a Suppression of<br />
Terrorism Amendment Bill through parliament, which contains yet another<br />
reinforcement of the terrorism bill. Within a month, all suspects were released on<br />
bail, including Tame Iti. The only charge which he could stand trial for this<br />
autumn concerns the illegal possession of weapons (guns and Molotov cocktails)<br />
on expeditions in 'the bush', at once renamed 'paramilitary training camps' by the<br />
police. The illegal possession of weapons was already punishable in New Zealand<br />
under the Fire Arms Act. No terrorism law was necessary for that purpose. The<br />
illegal possession of weapons in no way makes these people 'terrorists'. This crisis<br />
shows that the political establishment in New Zealand has provided highly<br />
inadequate solutions to the problems of 25 percent of its population. But to admit<br />
that would be more difficult than to dump the Maori opponents in with<br />
internationally vilified terrorists.<br />
TAME ITI AT THE KUNSTENFESTIVALDESARTS<br />
In March of this year, however, Lemi Ponifasio presented a second version of his<br />
Tempest in Auckland. That Tame Iti will be able to leave the country to perform<br />
this Tempest II in Brussels and on other dates in Europe, is almost certain. But<br />
apparently his son is ready to take his place if necessary. His succession is<br />
guaranteed.<br />
Jan Goossens & Hildegard De Vuyst, <strong>Press</strong> <strong>Kit</strong> of the KVS for the Kunsten<br />
festivaldesarts in Brussels, may, 2008.<br />
A FEW SHOWS<br />
Birds With Skymirrors<br />
Tempest II<br />
Requiem<br />
Paradise<br />
Bone Flute<br />
MAUForum<br />
TOURING DATES<br />
16-17/01/2010, Le Maillon, Strasbourg<br />
22-23/01/2010, De Singel, Anvers<br />
2/02/2010, Grand T, Nantes<br />
7-8/02/2010, Festival "C’est de la danse contemporaine", Toulouse<br />
12-14/02/2010, Mercat dels Flors (Mercado de las Flores), Barcelone<br />
19-20/02/2010, Théâtre KVS, Bruxelles<br />
2-3/04/2011, RedCat CALARTS, Million Dollar Theater LA<br />
7-9/04/2011, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Novellus Theater, San Fransisco<br />
15-16/04/2011, Hopkins center, The Moore Theater, Dartmouth<br />
27-28/05/2011, Singapore Arts Festival, Esplanade, Singapore<br />
PRESS KIT TEMPEST: WITHOUT A BODY 11