Moko danced by the Royal New Zealand Ballet

Tu Tangata, Issue 24, 1 June 1985, Page 26

Moko danced by the Royal New Zealand Ballet

By now Moko would have been presented to the people of China as part of the New Zealand package by the Royal Ballet, and Moko would have been seen by New Zealand ballet patrons.

As such the preview I saw in early March seems long ago and perhaps my response has been overtaken by public acclaim.

However, the increasing use of Maori legends, themes and cultural borrowings right across the arts field is overall very encouraging for those who see the need to reflect a New Zealand identity in the arts.

The New Zealand Royal Ballet are relative ‘Jony come lately’s’ to this scene with the likes of Te Ohu Whakaari pioneering Maori theatre/dance to school group and audiences mostly unused to theatre, and Willy, Warren and Tai, the dancers featured in the December/January issue of Tu Tangata. Te Kani Kani o te Rangatahi is another fledgling modern dance group along with Merupa, a young Maori dance group.

Even Limbs have incorporated a vague Maori flavour into one of their sequences based around a poi.

But of course the New Zealand Ballet is a bit more prestigious and of course more is expected.

Well the ballet, Moko is a continuation of previous works for choreographer Gaylene Sciascia, and it is a measure of her professionalism and integrity of the finished work, Moko, that Kahungunu kaumatua gave their approval after viewing the preview.

The ballet is in three acts and tells the story of Mataora who marries Niwareka, who comes from the underworld. They are happy until Mataora, jealous of his wife’s affections, hits Niwareka for looking at another man. She returns to the underworld where later Mataora journeys to find her.

In the underworld he discovers the art of moko or body tattoo. Niwareka’s father, Uetonga tattoos Mataora and in his agony, he reveals the purpose of his travels. Through this he is reconciled with Niwareka and they return to the upperworld taking with them their knowledge of moko and taaniko decorative weaving.

The ballet works as a vehicle for the story, with strong convincing performances from Stephen Nicholls as Mataora and Adrienne Matheson as Niwareka. Jon Trimmer made much of his minor role as Uetonga and threatened the steal the show.

Not being a ballet patron, the finer points would have been lost on me, but I enjoyed Moko as a professional slice of theatre.

One or two points irritated me and although it seems finnicky to mention

them, it was noted by some others.

The used of the wiri or gentle shaking of the hands is an art which would have been better not to have been attempted by some dancers. The sight of fingers being waggled reminded me of pakehas on first coming to grips with action song movements. Enough said perhaps.

The other was the lack of ihi in some of the haka movements. It might have been too much to ask for from a largely European cast needing a crash course in Maori dance, but a better use say, of pukana would certainly have helped.

Set design by Sandy Adsett was most impressive while being simple. Freed from the ‘traditional’ Maori setting, Adsett’s design was very contemporary Maori. Indeed the use of more design like this for urban Maori gathering places would go a long way to breathing fresh life into Maori art.

Music also for Moko was very effective providing a great atmosphere of ‘underworld’ and ‘upperworld’. And the music kept very much to a Maori feel with the koauau being used to

blend in with the sinuous dance movements. Some people I spoke to mentioned the effectiveness of the koauau and supposed that either Joe Malcolm or Donna Hall had done the playing.

However talking afterwards with music director, Ross Harris, I fould he had taught himself how to play some time ago, and had played the koauau himself for Moko.

So I would applaude the New Zealand Ballet for its rendition of Moko and suggest that contemporary ballet be written for such companies to dance, and would further suggest that a planned musical by the Patea Maori Club could be a starting point. One of the songs is already well-known, Aku Raukura which speaks about the quest for identity for a young urban Maori. Another titled, He Tangata Tinihanga, portrays the brashness of youth in the ‘big smoke’. Both songs I feel could be a kicking off point for New Zealand cultural ballet.

PW