Show honouring Māori and Cherokee ancestral kaitiaki performs international premiere

Hōkioi me te Vwōhali was performed in the US last week. Photo / Terry Cloyd

Veteran Māori contemporary dancer and choreographer Taiaroa Royal has just had the first international premiere of his show Hōkioi me te Vwōhali in Cincinnati, United States.

The performance, made in collaboration with choreographers Missy and Andrew Hubbard from the US-based dance company Exhale Dance Tribe, tells the story of the shared whakapapa of the Hōkioi, Haast’s Eagle, and the Vwōhali, the American Golden Eagle.

“The Hōkioi is considered the tuakana, older sibling, of the Vwōhali, the teina, younger sibling, and they are considered messengers to the gods by both cultures,” Royal says.

On Friday the show premiered and Royal says it received “an incredible response”.

“I was a little bit apprehensive of how this audience would receive the show but they just absolutely loved it. They really felt the wairua of the work.”

The show first premiered in 2020 in Wellington and was put on hold because of Covid. Royal, of Te Arawa, Kai Tahu, Ngāti Raukawa and Ūenukukōpako, says the break has allowed the performance to become even better.

“All the dancers who were in the original work are now three years older, so now everyone has grown. Also, their wairua has grown since then, so the development of the work, ā wairua-sense, has grown as well.”

The youngest dancer is 14 and the oldest is 42, also signifying the tuakana, teina dynamic.

“There’s been a lot of transference of knowledge and experience between all those different dancers and I think it’s just enhanced the work even more and that’s why I think we have the dream team at the moment.”

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Half of the dancers involved are from Royal’s dance company Ōkāreka and the other half from Exhale Dance Tribe. Each group rehearsed in their separate countries for three to four weeks before rehearsing together a week before the show.

“I wasn’t sure how everyone was going to mix but we’re really just fortunate to have amazing people, amazing dancers, who were able to bond quickly.”

Jesse Wikiriwhi, of Te Arawa, Ngāti Whakaue, Ngāti Uenukukōpako, is one of the dancers who performed in 2020 and also in the US.

“I’ve been dancing for 20-plus years so for me it’s exciting because it’s my US premiere. I’ve been fortunate to tour all over the world but never in the States so it’s a special moment for me as well to finally do that,” he says.

“In a week’s time, we united to create this really special moment on stage. I think that’s special. It’s quite a beautiful thing to do. We may be from different cultures from different sides of the world but we speak the same language.”

Maddy Cundiff is a dancer from Exhale Dance Tribe. She has Cherokee heritage and has been able to learn more about her whakapapa.

“I’ve grown up with this project and really learned a lot,” she says.

“I keep growing and changing and learning. It is a spiritual work for me as very much as it is creative and I’m very happy to be a part of it.”

Royal hopes to perform the show to Cherokee in North Carolina before coming home to perform more shows in Aotearoa.