Rongo Whakapā

An intimate and shared exploration of presence, connection, and community through dance.

Tickets are available  Rongo Whakapā | Kaitaia – Kaitaia – Eventfinda

• Rongo Whakapā, the debut choreographic work by Brydie Colquhoun (Ngāpuhi),, one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most captivating Māori contemporary dance artists, invites audiences to slow down, witness and connect.

 

In a time of increasing disconnection, we enter an intimate environment where six dancers respond to each other and a shifting space. Tensions between individualism and community are explored through entrancing movement, immersive sound design by Eden Mulholland, and distinctive spatial design by Rowan Pierce.

 

Building the foundational shape of this work are conversations, interviews, and wānanga with Mātanga Mātauranga Māori, whānau, colleagues, and friends around intimacy and connection in our contemporary lives. The language is shaped by Brydie’s extensive embodied knowledge and whakapapa of movement practice as both a practitioner and teacher of contemporary dance technique, contact improvisation and durational improvisation.

Rongo Whakapā, meaning “sense of touch,” gently explores shifts toward decolonising performance spaces, proposing new ways, or perhaps old ways, of gathering and encountering.

 

Atamira Dance Company is honoured to support this significant milestone in the evolving landscape of Māori contemporary dance. Having premiered in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland July 2025, Rongo Whakapā will tour to ONEONESIX in Whangārei 29 April-1 May, Turner Centre in Kerikeri 7-8 May and Te Ahu Hall in Kaitaia 13-14 May.