WOMAD

Lemi Ponifasio & Mau

From New Zealand

MAU is a New Zealand-based contemporary performance ensemble of Pacific artists directed by designer, dancer and choreographer, Lemi Ponifasio.Established in 1995, MAU theatre productions are relatively large-scale works with a high visual design component, blurring the line between dance,theatre, oratory and visual arts. Ponifasio's performance imagery resonates with a unique visual poignancy that is a tribute to age old tradition, yet also breaks with its boundaries.The work of MAU involves theatrical experimentaion and research into Pacific traditions. Dancers train in the ancient dance and chants of the region and MAU speaks of an art form in a constant state of flux, moving and changing like the tidal pull of the Pacific Ocean.