ITI KAHURANGI
BATS Theatre, The Dome, 1 Kent Tce, Wellington
23/10/2021 - 23/10/2021
Production Details
Whāia te iti kahurangi, ki te tuohu koe, me he maunga teitei.
Seek the treasure you value most dearly, and if you bow your head, let it be to a lofty mountain.
This whakataukī is about perseverance and endurance, and is a central theme for Bronsson-George’s show exploring his whakapapa, his Māoritanga and combining Māori theatre with Circus arts. In a show that makes use of dynamic movement, storytelling, te reo Māori and projected imagery, Iti Kahurangi is “visceral, heart-warming and important.”
Contains: loud music, strobe lighting, semi-nudity, unapologetic kōrero in te reo Maori and discussions of colonisation.
BATS Theatre, The Dome
23 October 2021
6pm
The Difference $40
Full Price $22
Group 6+ $18
Concession Price $15
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TAHI FESTIVAL 2021
19-23 October
A celebration of solo performance, TAHI is a five-day Festival at BATS Theatre dedicated to showcasing the finest and most engaging solo theatre from all around Aotearoa.
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TAHI WORKSHOP with KAHURANGI BRONSSON-GEORGE
Thursday 21 October ,12.30pm | Thistle Hall, 293 Cuba Street, Wellington
Kā Rākau Auaha – Sticks of Creativity
Kahurangi Bronsson-George (Kāi Tahu, Kāti Mamoe, Waitaha, Ngāti Porou) has been studying Mau Rākau, the art of Māori Taiaha for over 3 years now, and is a Pou tahi (grade one) in Te Whare Tū Taua o Aotearoa, a Mau Rākau form that has been restored to Aotearoa by the work of Tā Pita Sharples (Ngāti Kahungunu).
This workshop is for whānau Māori who are looking to reclaim a cultural taoka, and whānau Pākehā/Tauiwi who are looking to learn about an ancient form of Māori weaponry.
Visual Artist, Projection Designer & Operator: Darrell Smith aka VJ Cubeman
Theatre , Solo ,
1 hr 10 min
Mesmerising. Thoughtful. Moving.
Review by Steve La Hood 24th Oct 2021
What is the thing most precious to you? Whāia te iti kahurangi, ki te tuohu koe, me he maunga teitei. The whakatauki urges us to “seek the thing you treasure the most (the ‘Iti Kahurangi’), and if in doing so you bow your head then let it be to a lofty mountain!”
Through movement and waiata, Kahurangi Bronsson-George enacts the pre-colonial world of Māori. There’s no dialogue… a tauparapara (‘Tukua te wairua…’), a karakia to Tane’s cleansing water, a wero.
His movements are balletic, synchronised with the projection, a kind of Circus kanikani. Mesmerising. Thoughtful.
The Māori he is portraying wields a taiaha that’s more a circus baton – a Morris-dancing stick with rubber balls on each end. It becomes the paddle for his waka, the rākau for his wero, his pogo stick to support his fragile acrobatics.
He ‘discovers’ a violin which at first he brandishes like a mere pounamu – aggressive, pukuriri – completely at odds with our understanding of the nature of a violin. It’s a shocking image.
However, he dons a European jacket and plays on the streets for money. As he assimilates, he accumulates. He hates himself for doing it. He succumbs to Christianity (a white shirt and the sign of the cross – he tohu). A hornipe soundtrack tells us how he has surrendered to the new colonial ways. ‘How Great Thou Art; is the strain from his violin.
You can run but you cannot escape your identity. He is tormented by his tupuna – literally chasing him across the stage in a classic circus hide and seek – and in the end the power of Tūmatuenga fills his spirit. Kei te whakarauoratia tōna mauri e ōna tupuna. He has found his ‘Iti Kahurangi’.
As the sound of the putorino diminishes, Kahurangi the person (not the actor) bestows his pepeha. It feels justified now – cathartic even.
How deliciously simple is this ‘Iti Kahurangi’! At the end, I know Kahurangi Bronsson-George as a humble and dignified Māori person. Behind the mataora, his eyes ask for understanding, for simple humanity.
When he and his two assistants sing “Ma wai ra e taurima te marae i waho nei…” the audience sing alongs – with heart. We are moved.
Kahurangi aspires to tour his show to kura i puta noa o te motu. I would love my grandchildren to experience this show. I say Bravo!
Copyright © in the review belongs to the reviewer
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