Memoirs of Active Service
A moving and beautiful love story inspired by the keeper of the diary, Memoirs of Active Service is about ordinary New Zealanders being asked to do extraordinary things.
Memoirs of Active Service is a one hour Dance Theatre work based on choreographer Maaka Pepene's grandfather's diary, recorded during his service in WWII, and inspired by the 28th Māori Battalion.
We watch the journey of five characters from a rural Māori community, their transformation from pre-war to enlisting, training and then afterwards, but always at the heart is the love and the sacrifices made by New Zealanders during this time. Memoirs of Active Service is a narrative based contemporary dance piece responding to a significant event in the lives of Māori–an era that lives on in through the descendants of the soldiers that fought at war and their loved ones that stayed behind. Memoirs of Active Service features songs of the era and an original sound-score composed by Paddy Free, lighting design by Vanda Karolczak, video design by Louise Potiki Bryant and narration by Jarod Rawiri.
TĀHUHU KŌRERO
2009
Tāmaki Makaurau North Shore tour | Presented by DANZ and CART
Belmont | 2 — 4 July
Orewa | 6 — 8 July
Browns Bay | 20 — 22 July
Kirikiriroa | 23 & 24 July
Telecom Playhouse
Tairawhiti | 14 August
Lawson Field Theatre
"Maaka Pepene does everything right in this Year of the Veteran work, which cleverly and dramatically vignettes the world at war and war's human face"
NZ Herald
Maaka Pepene "an assurance and dramatic talent that holds much promise"
NZ Listener
"Atamira goes from strength to strength and is now the hotspot of contemporary dance in Auckland”.
NZ Herald