Ōkāreka Dance Company
Mana Wahine [Powerful Women]
March 27, 2024 • 7:30 pm
McPherson Playhouse
Running time: 75 minutes (no intermission)
The Royal Theatre is located on the traditional lands of the Lekwungen peoples, also known as the Esquimalt and Songhees Nations. We extend our appreciation for the opportunity to live, create, and perform on this territory.
Please, no video or audio recording of any kind. No photographs.
Ō kāreka Dance Company.
Photo: Alex Efimoff
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About the Work
Artistic Director: Taiaroa Royal
Choreographers: Taiaroa Royal/Malia Johnston/Taane Mete
Cultural Advisor: Tūī Matira Ranapiri Ransfield
Lighting: Vanda Karolczak
Music: Victoria Kelly
Costume: Elizabeth Whiting
Set: Tracey Collins
Audio-Visual: Rowan Pierce
Mana Wahine [Powerful Women]
The true story of Te Aokapurangi, a young maiden from Rotorua, inspired the storyline of this production. She was captured in battle by a tribe from the Far North and many years later she returned to single-handedly save her people from slaughter. Her courage, determination and fearlessness fuel the choreographic style explored in this exciting new piece.
Mana Wahine was also inspired by a conversation between Tūī Matira Ranapiri-Ransfield and Taiaroa Royal three years before the work premiered. At the time, Tūī shared the stories of two ancestresses and their greatness from the Ngāti Ohomairangi people of Te Arawa. They were Kearoa matriarchs and wives of the great navigator and high priest Ngātoroirangi, and Te Aokapurangi of the Ngāti Rangiwewehi and Tapuika kinships. Although under very different circumstances, these courageous women are responsible for saving their people, too. It is their legacies that have enthused Mana Wahine.
Collaboratively, the dancers have interpreted these stories through a culmination of physical dexterity, control, balance, strength, and grace. The stories of their matrilineal ancestors
are also embedded in this work and inform their movement and expression.
Tūī, Cultural Advisor has brought a vast knowledge and lifetime of Māori performing artistry to this piece. Evidence of her expertise and special knowledge is woven throughout Mana Wahine. We witness skills like karanga [call together], wiriwiri [trembling hands], pūkana [facial expressions], patu, poi [objects used by the dancers], oro, tangi apakura, oriori [various spoken word forms to mourn, to teach], and her own presence as a spiritual warrior and mana wahine herself. The piece commences with Waerea, an incantation to clear physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual obstruction allowing the dancers freedom and space to dance.
Tūī concludes the piece with a pātere [chant], which gives the whakapapa [genealogy] of women. This begins with the creation of life, from Ranginui Sky Father and Papatūānuku Earth Mother. Also included are the origins of mana [prestige, power, status), mauri [vital essence] and tapu [sacredness] of women. It honours and acknowledges Hine-nui-i-te-pō, Goddess and Deity of the spirits and souls of humankind. Everlasting peace, eternal life and enlightenment remain with her.
Tūī is one of the storytellers and researchers for the cultural components in Mana Wahine. She is the lyric and music composer of the karanga, waerea and pātere [chants, spoken word] for this piece. Tūī has created whakatauāki and karakia for Ōkāreka Dance Company. Her voice features throughout the performance and her face is projected on the background of Mana Wahine
Ōkāreka Dance Company. Photos: Alex Efimoff
Directors’ Notes
This production came to me at my Aunty Ria’s tangi at the family’s Pikirangi Marae, where I caught up with my cousin Tūi Matira Ranapiri-Ransfield. She asked me how Ōkāreka Dance Company was going and then proceeded to tell me the story of Te Aokapurangi and how she saved her people from slaughter. Instantly it struck a chord with something inside me! A woman who outsmarted the chiefs of the tribe by thinking laterally — by thinking ‘like a woman’! So, after pondering more about it, the idea of taking the inspiration from this story and creating a work that encompasses the amazing essence of women came to me – Mana Wahine was conceived. More pondering made me realise that to create this essence of women, we had to have an all-female cast. Then why not take it further and have an all-female creative and production team, as well? To this we run pretty true, apart from three men — Rowan Pierce (Audio Visuals), Taane, and myself.
With a 3-year gestation period that included four weeks of research workshops and a five-week construction rehearsal period, what you see tonight is the incredible collaborative result of huge amounts of creativity that journey together, arriving at the birth of this production, Mana Wahine. I hope when you see this you remember, honour, and love the woman or women that are your mana wahine. Enjoy! —Taiaroa Royal
Mana Wahine has been an incredible journey for the entire team: a journey of discovery, history, cultural exploration, uncovering, interpretation, and dance. Early in the discussions, it was decided this work would grow as a co-authorship process between the three choreographers and that the dancers would contribute strongly by bringing in their own material and choreography. Having Tūi Matira Ranapiri-Ransfield present
throughout the entire process has meant she had a significant role in the direction the work has taken and has been a pivotal figure for us all, being not only the keeper of the stories and a deep source of knowledge but also a constant guide and leader throughout the process. This work has been constructed intuitively; it defies narrative, instead unfolding in a way that displays a journey of energies and personal interpretations of the woman’s responses to the many concepts that were explored by all three choreographers. I would like to acknowledge the strength of the female dancers’ contributions as well as Tūi’s performance, song, and guidance. I would also like to thank the team on a collaborative process that has been very rewarding and fulfilling for me as a dance artist. —Malia Johnston
From conception to the present day, Mana Wahine has been one of the most rewarding experiences I have ever encountered. Developing the arc of this work has enabled the entire creative team to invest themselves whole-heartedly and with an open mind, thus allowing the journey of Mana Wahine to unfold each day. Sharing cultural values and practices daily strengthens the foundations of Ōkāreka Dance Company and in turn permeates into the performance onstage.
Dance is a living language that changes on a daily basis. Watching these Wahine craft their skill and embody information during this exploration has deepened their own understanding of who they are as woman and who they are as dancers. —Taane
Mete
Photos supplied by Ōkāreka Dance Company
About Ōkāreka Dance Company
Ōkāreka was established in 2007 to fuse contemporary dance with indigenous Māori themes and other genres to create authentic, diverse works. Led by senior performer Taiaroa Royal, Ōkāreka has become one of New Zealand’s most sought after and prolific dance companies. Ōkāreka 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 to create evocative, beautiful dance works that tell a story. Ōkāreka is a company guided by Māori beliefs. These beliefs are brought to its work and its audiences. The coming years will be very exciting for Ōkāreka Dance Company, as it relocates itself to its papakāinga on the shores of Lake Ōkāreka, Rotorua. Settling there, the company will continue to grow and develop both creatively and strategically in areas of repertoire, business, and education.
Production Team
Production Manager: Vanda Karolczak
Stage Manager: Vanessa Reed
Audio-Visual: Rebekah Boyce
Cory-Toalei Roycroft
Emma Cosgrave
Jana Castillo
Paige Te Rangimarie Shand
Jessica Johns
Abbagail Rogers
Tūī Matira Ranapiri Ransfield, Cultural Advisor
Vanda Karolczak, Production Manager/Designer
Read the dancers’ full biographies by scanning this QR code with your smartphone’s camera:
Taiaroa Royal, Artistic Director
Cast
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Ōkāreka
Dance Company. Photo: Alex Efimoff
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