Atamira: A Framework for Performance

Abstract

Stephen Bradshaw provides an insightful understanding of ‘continuum’ Māori dance and the issues surrounding inter-cultural and intra-cultural exchange that it encapsulates through his text, “Contemporary dance: A Māori perspective”.2 This thesis is an accumulation and convergence of my interests in architecture, performance and tikanga Māori. Māori contemporary performance provides a vessel through which to explore spatial conditions that respond to this unique negotiation between creative practices. What constitutes a space to be an architecture for contemporary Māori performance? Can the meaning of theatre be redefined to pertain to a New Zealand context? The Atamira Dance Collective is at the forefront of Māori contemporary dance theatre in Aotearoa, New Zealand,3 and this project is a celebration of its world view. Kaitiaki (guardian), Jack Grey, provides insight into the foundation on which this group is established, and consequently the principles and values that members uphold as a fundamental component of their practice and ideology. The brief offers a performance framework for Atamira that responds to concepts in ‘continuum’ Māori performance ideology. These notions identified throughout my research as a performance home, atamira, activators and adornment have the ability to enhance our understanding of the intersection between performance, physical space and the Māori world view. The investigation intends to explore ways in which the inquiry and conception of an architectural response may contribute to the development of this art form, through a multidisciplinary engagement with the kaupapa Māori central to this discourse. Addressing concepts of indigeneity, this thesis acknowledges the significance of natural elements in the Māori culture and explores occupation and authority with the land through a drawing based practice. The framework is situated at the Corban Estate Arts Centre in West Auckland, the site in which Atamira currently reside, further strengthening their connection with the land and sense of belonging. The research draws from a combination of alternative Western spatial arrangements, in particular Teatro Oficina by Lina Bo Bardi, te whare tapere, an institution of traditional Māori entertainment,4 and spatial rituals of a marae complex. The intention is to consider particular elements of a marae to help to articulate the idea of home and occupation in a performance setting. It is a provocation of the spatial potential of the ideas that govern the bicultural discourse, within which Atamira resides, to facilitate theatrical movement and occupation in a contemporary setting.