DANZTo Celebrate Matariki Tawata Productions Presents 'the beautiful ones'
Wellington City’s indigenous performance company, Tawata Productions, celebrates Matariki 2015 – the Maori New Year – with a theatrical experience like no other... the World Premiere Season of the beautiful ones by multi award winning writer, director Hone Kouka (Ngati Porou, Ngati Raukawa, Ngati Kahungunu, Ngai Tahu).
the beautiful ones SYNOPSIS
A hyper real digital love story.
the beautiful ones is a story of young love. A promise Hana made to Ihia – a promise to return. Will she return? Will love triumph over temptation? the beautiful ones bursts from the late night sheen of a city club with beautiful bodies & vital vocals, replete with defiant dance moves and the meaning of love.
Called ‘the theatrical dance party of the millenium’, the beautiful ones also features a dance floor for the audience to share the party vibe!
A World Premiere from the company that brought you I, George Nepia, Sunset Road and Tu - the beautiful ones is a masterful creative collision, weaving live music and produced beats, movement and choreography, visual design and text: written and directed by Hone Kouka, features choreography by Dolina Wehipeihana (co-founder of Atamira Dance Collective), acclaimed singer, song writer Tama Waipara (Fill Up The Silence), artist Johnson Witehira, fashion stylist Sopheak Seng and rising star music producer K*Saba.
Warning: Adult Themes, Big Beats & Dance Music. the beautiful ones contains some nudity and coarse language.
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer & Director Hone Kouka (Tu, I, George Nepia, Waiora)
Choreographer Dolina Wehipeihana (White Face Crew, Betsy & Mana Productions, Atamira Dance Collective)
Composer Tama Waipara (Fill Up The Silence, Sir Plus and the Requirements)
AV Artists Johnson Witehira (the beautiful ones)
Costume Design Sopheak Seng (Neang Neak’s Legacy)
Sound Design K*Saba (Tu, Double Derelicts, Sunset Road)
Lighting Design Laurie Dean (Neang Neak’s Legacy, The Prospect)
Set Design Wai Mihinui (Neang Neak’s Legacy, Hikoi, Nga Pou Wahine)
On the rehearsal room floor, working side by side, Hone and Dolina are joined by 12 performers- from multiple mediums – including Tanemahuta Gray (Tiki Taane Mahuta), Scotty Cotter (Massive Company), Kali Kopae (Hapai Productions, Tikapa Productions), Sharn Te Pou (Aotearoa Aerial Theatre Company), Manuel Solomon (Hapai Productions, Te Rakau Hua o te Wao Tapu).
‘I gave myself a challenge to create a piece away from a text based work – the beautiful ones is the result. A hybrid of art forms and cultures and to have so many incredible artists to collaborate with is daunting and exciting. ’
WRITER & DIRECTOR BIOGRAPHY
Hone Kouka MNZM is an acclaimed Maori writer, winner of the Bruce Mason Award and multiple Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards. He has had plays produced in South Africa, Britain, Hawaii, Canada, Australia, New Caledonia, as well as throughout New Zealand, with two plays being translated into French and Russian.
Hone co-founded theatre production house Tawata Productions, producing the works of Maori & Pasifika writers. He has worked as Development Executive at the New Zealand Film Commission. In June 2009, Hone became a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to Contemporary Maori Theatre.
TAWATA PRODUCTIONS BIOGRAPHY
Tihei mauri ora! Kia manuia! Based in Wellington, New Zealand, Tawata Productions is an indigenous performance and film company.
Specialising in the development and production of new work, Tawata blurs the lines between text, movement, film and music, presenting a diverse performance experience from Aotearoa to the world beyond.
Our work includes the sweeping epic Tu; multiple award winning I, George Nepia, the Cook Islands drama Sunset Road and the New Zealand Khmer Neang Neak’s Legacy.
Tawata are currently developing the feature film Puawai’s Flowers, a co-production with Sabertooth Film. Puawai’s Flowers weaves magic realism and comedy.
Tawata Productions has performed in national and international festivals throughout New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, the South Pacific, and the Hawai’ian Islands.