Lemi Ponifasio
Introduction '''Salā''' '''Lemi Ponifasio''' is a prolific international theatre director, choreographer, and artist. He is known for his radical approach to theatre, dance, art and activism, and for his collaboration with communities.Distinctive and with its own unique genealogy, Ponifasio's creations defy conventional definitions. In his artistic universe, Ponifasio orients the modern individual towards new cosmovisions and other dimensions of consciousness by way of the decelerated rhythm of his strict aesthetic - a palette of black, inverted, dreamlike images; the ceremonial, sacrificial body; a visceral space of sound, light and darkness.Lemi Ponifasio (2016)
Early life Lemi was born in Lano, Samoa, to Samoan catechists and moved to New Zealand when he was 15 years old. While at high school in New Zealand he started to attend a series of workshops with the Maori Matua Tohunga master artist Irirangi Tiakiawa in Rotoiti. Ponifasio was then invited by Maori performing arts leader Tama Huata to work with him as part of his Maori cultural group Takitimu Trust, performing in communities throughout New Zealand and in reservations in Canada.
Career Lemi Ponifasio began his artistic career as an avant-garde experimental performer, staging his epic ten-year solo dance investigation ''Body in Crisis'', primarily in non-theatrical and outdoor spaces.His brief encounter with modern dance, butoh and classical ballet in the 1980s made him skeptical about the notion of contemporary dance and launched his search for the origin of his own dance. He started to travel the world and danced continuously.He explored the life of the body through cosmic vision, genealogy, philosophy, architecture, chant, dance and ceremonies of indigenous communities, especially Maori, Kiribati, Kanaky people of New Caledonia, Samoa, Tonga, Tahiti and the diverse islands of the Pacific region.After a decade of traveling, living and performing in many countries, Ponifasio returned to New Zealand. Reading Maori rights activist Eva Rickard 'squote "only dead fish flow with the current", he decided to call his first group performance work ''Fish of the Day''.Ponifasio formed MAU - the philosophical foundation and direction of his work, the name of his work, and the communities he works with. MAU is a Samoan word that means the declaration to the truth of a matter as an effort to transform. With a group of young performers and friends, Ponifasio created ''Illumina'' as the first work of MAU performed at the Galaxy Theatre, Auckland, New Zealand in 1992.MAU focuses on arts and culture, avant-garde, and philosophy. MAU seeks to transform the theatre's power source, challenge the authority of theatre, and re-examine and question our current concept of what is human. It organises the creation of new art, workshops, symposia, and community meetings; activities to build new systems of knowledge and new cultures, to develop human consciousness and sentience to the ecological crisis of our time.Lemi's collaborators are people from all walks of life; the works are performed in factories, remote villages, opera houses, schools, marae, castles, galleries, and stadiums. His projects have included fully staged operas, theatre, dance, exhibitions, community forums and festivals in more than 40 countries. One of Ponifasio's longtime collaborators for over 25 years is lighting designer Helen Todd, and light is often mentioned in reviews of the work of MAU. At the forefront of the international art scene, Ponifasio performs and exhibits his work worldwide including the Festival d'Avignon, BAM Brooklyn Academy of Music New York, Ruhrtriennale, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts New York, Edinburgh International Festival, Theater der Welt, Théâtre de la Ville Paris,  Onassis Cultural Centre Athens, London's Southbank Centre, Holland Festival, Carriageworks Sydney, Luminato Festival Toronto, Vienna Festival, Berliner Festspiele, Santiago a Mil Chile, the Venice Biennale and in the Pacific region.While firmly established within the international avant-garde, Ponifasio grounds his work within local communities and Maori and diverse Oceanic cultures, exploring complex forms of knowledge such as oratory, navigation, architecture, dance, performance, music, ceremony, philosophies, and genealogies as a driving force in emphasizing local-oriented arts, indigenous cultural recovery, language and knowledge, thought, and narratives that have been silenced or excluded.Lemi Ponifasio's most recent works include ''Song Of The Earth'' (2023) with Pacific communities and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra; ''Chosen and Beloved'' (2020) with MAU Wāhine and NZ Symphony Orchestra; ''Jerusalem (2020); House Of Night and Day (2020)'' exhibition at Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa; ''Transfigured Night (2020)'' with MAU Wāhine, Hawke's Bay Orchestra, Kahurangi Māori Dance and the Huata Whānau''; Love To Death / Amor a la muerte'' (2020) with MAU Mapuche; ''KANAKA'' (2019) with Theatre Du Kanaky; choreography for stagging of ''Idomeneo'' (Mozart) at ''Salzburg Festival'' (2019); ''Mausina (2018)'' with MAU Wāhine; ''Standing in Time'' (2017) a mauopera with MAU Wāhine; ''Die Gabe Der Kinder'' (2017) with children and community of Hamburg; ''Lagimoana'' (2015) for the Venice Biennale 56th Visual Arts Exhibition; ''Apocalypsis'' (2015) with music of R. Murray Schafer at the Luminato Festival, Toronto; ''I AM: Mapuche'' (2015) and ''Ceremonia de Memorias'' (2016) with MAU Mapuche the indigenous people of Chile; ''I AM'' (2014) for the 100th Anniversary of WW1, premiered at the Avignon Festival and followed by seasons at such places as the Edinburgh International Festival and the Ruhrtriennale, Germany.Other MAU creations include ''The Crimson House'' (2014), probing the nature of power and a world that sees all and no longer forgets; ''Stones in Her Mouth'' (2013), a mauopera with Maori women as transmitters of a life force through oratory and ancient chants; Orff's opera ''Prometheus'' for the Ruhrtriennale (2012); ''Le Savali: Berlin'' (2011), confronting the imperial City of Berlin with its own communities of immigrant families in search of belonging and constrained by threat of deportation; ''Birds With Skymirrors'' (2010), responding to the disappearing Pacific Islands, homelands to most of his performers and devastated by climate change; and ''Tempest: Without A Body'' (2008), concerning power and terror and the unlawful use of state power post 9/11.
Awards, Honors and Recognitions In 2023, Ponifasio became a  World Theatre Abassador of International Theatre Institute ITI.In 2016, International Theatre Institute ITI Worldwide, Organization for Performing Art and, UNESCO partner, invited Ponifasio to write the official message for International Dance Day.The work of the Samoan artist ''I AM MAPUCHE'' was recognized by the Circle of Art Critics of Chile as Best International Production of 2015 in the Theater category. The show was produced as a co-production of Fundación Teatro a Mil and the MAU company, and it premiered in the  scope of festival Santiago a Mil.Lemi Ponifasio was the Arts Foundation Laureate in 2011, and was the recipient of the Senior Pacific Artist Award in 2012, courtesy of the Creative New Zealand Arts Pasifika Awards.
Works Year and place of world premieres by Lemi Ponifasio* 2023 '' Song Of The Earth ·'' Michael Fowler Centre; Wellington, New Zealand* 2020 '' Chosen and Beloved ·'' MAU Wāhine; New Zealand Festival; Michael Fowler Centre; Wellington, New Zealand* 2020  ''Jerusalem'' · New Zealand Festival of the Arts, Toi Whakaari, Oper Köln and Akademie der Künste der Welt Köln; Wellington Opera, New Zealand* 2020 '' House of Night and Day ·'' exhibition at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa; Wellington, New Zealand* 2020 '' Transfigured Night ·'' MAU Wāhine; Bay Arts Festival, New Zealand* 2020 '' Love To Death (Amor a la muerte) ·'' MAU Mapuche; Barcelona Grec Festival and Teatro a Mil Foundation produduction; Santiago de Chile, Chile* 2019 KANAKA · Theatre Du Kanaky; New Caledonia* 2019 '' Mozart, Idomeneo ·'' choreography for opera production ''Idomeneo''; Salzburg Festival; Salzburg, Austria* 2018 '' Mausina'' · MAU Wāhine; for the 125th Anniversary of Women's Suffrage in New Zealand; NZ Parliament, Wellington, New Zelanad* 2017 '' Vanimonimo'' · Louvre Abu Dhabi; Abu Dabi, UAE* 2017 '' Die Gabe Der Kinder'' · Theater Der Welt; Hamburg, Germany* 2017 '' Standing In Time,'' mauopera · Festspielhaus St Pölten; St Pölten, Austria* 2016 '' Ceremonia De Memorias'' · MAU Mapuche;  Festival Santiago A Mil; Santiago de Chile, Chile* 2016 '' Recompose'' · KunstFestSpiele Herrenhausen; Hannover, Germany* 2015 '' Apocalypsis'' (with music by R. Murray Schafer) · Luminato Festival; Toronto, Canada* 2015 ''Lagimoana'' ·  Venice Biennale 56th Visual Arts Exhibition; Venice, Italy* 2015 ''I AM Mapuche'' · MAU Mapuche; Festival Santiago A Mil; Santiago de Chile, Chile* 2014 '' I AM'' · Festival d’Avignon; Avignon, France* 2014 '' The Crimson House'' · New Zealand Festival; Wellington, New Zealand* 2013 '' Stones In Her Mouth,'' mauopera · REDCAT Radar L. A. Festival; Los Angeles, USA* 2012 '' Prometheus'' (''Prometheus'' by Carl Orff) · Ruhrtriennale; Duisburg, Germany* 2011 '' Le Savali: Berlin'' · Berliner Festspiele; Berlin, Germany* 2011 '' Le Savali Videoinstallation'' ·   Berliner Festspiele; Berlin, Germany* 2010 '' Birds With Skymirrors'' ·  Theater Der Welt; Essen, Germany* 2010 '' Tempest: Without a Body'' · Sydney Festival; Sydney, Australia* 2008 ''Fale Aitu/Phantom House'' · Lift London International Festival of Theatre; London, UK* 2008 ''I AM Tuhoe'' · Te Rewarewa Marae; Ruatoki, New Zealand* 2008 '' Tempest II'' · Kunstenfestivaldesarts; Brussels, Belgium* 2008 ''The Loss of Civil Liberties'' · KVS Royal Flemish Theatre;  Brussels, Belgium* 2007 '' Woven Flesh: Oceania Exhibit'' ·  Prague Quadrennial; Prague, CZ* 2007 ''Tempest'' ·  Vienna Festival; Vienna, Austria* 2006 ''Requiem'' ·  New Crowned Hope, 250th Mozart Anniversary; Vienna, Austria* 2006 ''Vasa'' ·  St Paul Street Gallery; Auckland, New Zealand* 2003 '' Paradise'' · Venice Theatre Biennale; Venice, Italy* 2003 ''Vasa: Oceania Exhibit'' · Prague Quadrennial; Prague, CZ* 2003 ''Threshold Wall: Heart of PQ'' · Prague Quadrennial; Prague, CZ* 2003 ''Haka: Heart of PQ'' · Prague Quadrennial; Prague, CZ* 2002 '' Bone Flute'' · Adelaide Festival; Adelaide, Australia* 2001 ''Land'' ·  Tjibaou Cultural Centre; New Caledonia* 2002 ''Bone Flute Ivi Ivi'' · Maidment Theatre; Auckland, New Zealand* 1999 ''Landing: New Zealand Exhibit'' · Prague Quadrennial; Prague, CZ* 1999 ''Rise'' · Winter Garden; Auckland, New Zealand* 1998 ''Ava'' · Maidment Theatre; Auckland, New Zealand* 1998 ''Light'' · WOMAD; Auckland, New Zealand* 1997 ''Sacred Hill'' · Taupo Festival; Taupo, New Zealand* 1996 ''The Ancient Mother'' · MADD Gallery; Appia, Samoa* 1996 ''Lo’omatua'' · Maidment Theatre; Auckland, New Zealand* 1995 ''Illumina: Embracing The Darkness'' · Herald Theatre, Aotea Centre; Auckland, New Zealand* 1992 ''Illumina'' · Galaxy Theatre; Auckland, New Zealand* 1991 ''Fish of the Day'' Galaxy Theatre, Auckland, Taki Rua Theatre, Wellington; New Zealand* 1987–1996 Solo Work ''- Body in Crisis'' · diverse countries
MAUForum and Pacific Thought Symposium *2010 5th Pacific Thought Symposium: '' Bringing Forth the Ancestors'' · Sydney’s Indigenous and Pacific communities, Seymour Centre; Sydney, Australia *2010 MAUForum'':  The Event of the Self/Other,'' Ceremony and celebration with artists and audience (Production commissioned by spielzeit'europa | Berliner Festspiele in cooperation with Berliner Residenz Konzerte, IMaGE Konzertveranstaltungs GmbH) *2007 MAUForum: ''Moana Roa''; Auckland, New Zealand *2006 MAUForum: ''Opus Dei''; Auckland, New Zealand *2006–present: ''Pacific Thought Symposium'' * 2005–present: ''MAUForum''
References
External links * MAU official website