Taitanyk Tonui and Villa Lemanu are two of the dancers in the work. They shared their insights into the themes of Mea Tau and their experience working on the performance.
TAITANYK TONIUI think Mea Tau is about a physical representation of weapons being used and abused.
I personally connect with the themes of Mea Tau by envisioning the weapons that would be used and give them emotions. I think humans have a complex relationship with weapons because of how humans have perceived weapons throughout time. Weapons have always been the centre of controversy because of how humans have used them. Some humans display weapons as if it is a trophy, whereas others use weapons for abusive actions. It all depends on how humans use weapons. Dance can be used to explore this because it can take the relationship of humans/weapons and create a visual story that correlates with the concept. |
VILLA LEMANUWhen there’s a gun aiming point blank at your forehead, does the gun strike fear in you or the person holding it? If the situation was different and you had the gun, how does it give you pride and confidence? When someone is shot or stabbed, is it the “weapon’s” fault? Can objects be innocent or guilty? These are just some of the questions I thought about while first discussing the idea early in 2016.
Mea Tau is an exploration of how objects become weapons (and vice versa) through the stories and language of these personified objects. It is a blunt, “day in the life” documentary on a bunch of object-turned-weapons. There is a wave of shifting energies within the piece where these “toys” are constantly used in different ways; predominantly for either (a) showboating or (b) harm. Even though the topic is quite ambiguous and serious; the explosive and comical approach to the piece provides a raw, fun energy. A dark space filled with comic relief; taking the audience on this rollercoaster of a journey in the middle of a battlefield. After discussing the themes and provocations of what we were going to explore for the show, I started to view everything around me a bit differently. I went from “Treat others the way you want to be treated” to “Treat everything the way you want to be treated.” I literally just try to walk in the shoes of a weapon and embody times that I’ve been harmed or mistreated. Whether it is from when I got high tackled in primary school during a rugby game, or when someone mocked my haircut in high school; I try to embody/reminisce over that physical or emotional pain and frustration throughout sections of the show. As dark as “harm” and “mistreated” sound, it was a fun and playful exploration with the cast. (Not saying that being harmed or mistreated is playful though…) I believe that art of any kind is a great medium in exploring ideas as it captures far more than what bland, straight-forward storytelling can on its own. Dance (Contemporary dance in particular) is an art form that can be very ambiguous and thought provoking. It has the ability to get the audience to ask questions about what they see and trust that whatever answer they come up with is correct. The essence, the on-stage presence, the engagement with the audience is not only visually mesmerizing, but other worldly. In this case, we want to take the audience to this world of objects and show them our way of life. This is why I believe that dance is a great way to explore this relationship. |
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