Tātai Whetū & TOMO VR

Atamira Dance Company is a leading force in Māori contemporary dance — a platform that, for 25 years, has empowered artists to create and present work across Aotearoa and internationally, showcasing Māori excellence through choreography grounded in whakapapa, identity, innovation, and artistic expression.

Throughout the day, we’ll be sharing two screen-based works:

Tātai Whetū
The film invites viewers into te wheiao — the space between dark and light — where movement, memory, and imagination meet.

8-minute dance film — playing on loop, projected on the Ōpānuku studio wall

Credits:

• Film Director/Choreographer: Kelly Nash (Ngāpuhi, Ngāi Te Rangi)
• Director of Photography & Editor: Joshua Faleatua (Threading Frames)
• Assistant Director of Photography: Tyler Carney-Faleatua (Threading Frames)
• Featuring dance artists: Abbie Rogers, Madi Tūmataroa, Toalei Roycroft, Oli Mathieson, Caleb Heke, Tai Hemana

TOMO VR

TOMO VR is a unique and moving Virtual Reality experience that captures the dream space between life and death.

Viewers enter a cavern of endless time — a world within a world — witnessing twin travellers: one journeying toward the living world, the other carried into the embracing arms of Hine Nui Te Pō, the Māori goddess of death.

15-minute virtual reality dance experience

Two VR headsets will be available, guided by an Atamira team member.

Credits:

• Director / Choreographer & Co-editor: Gabrielle Thomas (Kāi Tahu, Te Atiawa, Te Tau Ihu)
• VR Filmmaker & Co-editor: Ed Davis
• Featuring dance artists: Sean MacDonald, Abbie Rogers, Madi Tūmataroa, Toalei Roycroft, Bianca Hyslop

This programme is gratefully supported by The Trusts Supporter Club donation