Theatre Royal Nelson, 78 Rutherford Street, Nelson 7010
A bold takatāpui rebirth of the Village People 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.
