Atamira Dance Company presents YMCĀ, a first full-length commission by acclaimed choreographer Oli Mathiesen (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Manu).
A bold takatāpui rebirth of the Village People, YMCĀ parallels the pop culture icons through a cast caught between character and confession. Wearing a rack of performed identities, the band interrogates the archetypes, the macho men, and the staging of queerness and indigeneity. A discography somewhere between authenticity, expectation, and spectacle.
1970’s luxe meets 18th-century bloodshed; a disco interior with a cultural inferior. Beneath the work's carpeted exterior lies a horned tension, where inherited narratives are pulled apart, restaged, and worn by someone else.
A carpetbagger is a “special person in anybody's land”. The script is up for revision as our new Village People endeavour to rewrite their story. To live a life of freedom, machos make a stand.
Hot off the heels of the Venice Biennale Danza, and known for genre-defying works including The Butterfly Who Flew Into The Rave, Mathiesen brings his new distinctive choreographic voice to Atamira - the tuakana platform for Māori contemporary dance, championing the next generation of artists.
Alluring, camp-soaked, and unapologetically original, YMCĀ invites audiences into a world where appropriation has never looked so good.
“If you ever forget that dance is where some of live performance's most exciting design is happening, this show is here to remind you.”
Sam Brooks, Critical Corner
