Salā Lemi Ponifasio (born in Lano Samoa), is globally renowned for his progressive application to theatre, politicking, and engagement with indigenous, Māori and Pacific peoples. He was the Arts Foundation Laureate in 2011, and was the recipient of the Senior Pacific Artist Award in 2012, courtesy of the Creative New Zealand Arts Pasifika Awards.

Early life

Lemi was born in Lano, Samoa to Samoan catechists and moved to New Zealand when he was 15 years old. While at high school in New Zealand he started to attend a series of workshops with the Maori Matua Tohunga master artist Irirangi Tiakiawa in Rotoiti. Ponifasio was then invited by Maori performing arts leader Tama Huata to work with him as part of his Maori cultural group Takitimu Trust, performing in communities throughout New Zealand and in reservations in Canada.

Career

Lemi Ponifasio began his artistic career as an avant-garde experimental performer, staging his epic ten-year solo dance investigation ''Body in Crisis'', primarily in non-theatrical and outdoor spaces. His brief encounter with modern dance, butoh and classical ballet in the 1980s made him skeptical about the notion of contemporary dance and launched his search for the origin of his own dance. He started to travel the world and danced continuously. He explored the life of the body through cosmic vision, genealogy, philosophy, architecture, chant, dance and ceremonies of indigenous communities, especially Maori,

Kiribati Kiribati (), officially the Republic of Kiribati ( gil, ibaberikiKiribati),Kiribati
''The Wor ...

, Kanaky people of New Caledonia, Samoa, Tonga, Tahiti and the diverse islands of the Pacific region. After a decade of traveling, living and performing in many countries, Ponifasio returned to New Zealand. Reading Maori rights activist Eva Rickard quote "only dead fish flow with the current", he decided to call his first group performance work ''Fish of the Day''. Ponifasio formed MAU - the philosophical foundation and direction of his work, the name of his work, and the communities he works with. MAU is a Samoan word that means the declaration to the truth of a matter. With a group of young performers and friends, Ponifasio created ''Illumina'' as the first work of MAU performed at the Galaxy Theatre, Auckland, New Zealand 1992. Ponifasio collaborates with people in all walks of life, working in schools, universities, in factories, villages, opera houses, castles, galleries, and stadiums. The work has included fully staged operas, theatre, dance, exhibitions, festivals and community forums. One of Ponifasio's longtime collaborators for over 25 years is lighting designer Helen Todd, and light is often mentioned in reviews of the work of MAU. At the forefront of the international art scene, Ponifasio performs and exhibits his work worldwide including the Festival d'Avignon, BAM

Brooklyn Academy of Music The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a performing arts venue in Brooklyn, New York City, known as a center for progressive and avant-garde performance. It presented its first performance in 1861 and began operations in its present location in ...

New York, Ruhrtriennale,

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 milli ...

New York,

Edinburgh International Festival The Edinburgh International Festival is an annual arts festival in Edinburgh, Scotland, spread over the final three weeks in August. Notable figures from the international world of music (especially european classical music, classical music) and ...

, Theater der Welt, Théâtre de la Ville Paris
Onassis Cultural Centre
Athens, London's

Southbank Centre Southbank Centre is a complex of artistic venues in London, England, on the South Bank of the River Thames (between Hungerford Bridge and Waterloo Bridge). It comprises three main performance venues (the Royal Festival Hall including the Nati ...

Holland Festival The Holland Festival () is the oldest and largest performing arts festival in the Netherlands. It takes place every June in Amsterdam. It comprises theatre, music, opera and modern dance. In recent years, multimedia, visual arts, film and ...

Carriageworks Carriageworks is a multi-arts urban cultural precinct located at the former Eveleigh Railway Workshops in Redfern, Sydney, Australia. Carriageworks showcases contemporary art and performing arts, as well as being used for filming, festivals, f ...

Sydney, Luminato Festival Toronto, Vienna Festival,

Berliner Festspiele The Berliner Festspiele (German for Berlin Festivals) are a series of festivals, art exhibitions, and other cultural events organized all year long by a common organization in Berlin. Events are held at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele, a pre- ...

, Santiago a Mil Chile, the

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

and in the Pacific region. In 2016,

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...

invited Ponifasio to write the official message for

International Dance Day the performing arts of UNESCO. The event takes place every year on 29 April, which is the anniversary of the birth of Jean-Georges Noverre (1727–1810), who is considered to be the "father" or creator of modern ballet (ie. classical or romant ...

. Lemi Ponifasio's most recent works include ''Standing in Time'' (2017) a mauopera with MAU Wahine, ''Die Gabe Der Kinder'' (2017) with children and community of Hamburg, ''Lagimoana'' (2015) for the Venice Biennale 56th Visual Arts Exhibition; ''Apocalypsis'' (2015) with music of R. Murray Schafer at the Luminato Festival, Toronto; ''I AM: Mapuche'' (2015) and ''Ceremonia de Memorias'' (2016) with MAU Mapuche the indigenous people of Chile; and ''I AM'' (2014) for the 100th Anniversary of WW1, which premiered at the Avignon Festival followed by seasons at such places as the Edinburgh International Festival and the Ruhrtriennale, Germany. Other MAU creations include ''The Crimson House'' (2014) probing the nature of power and a world that sees all and no longer forgets; ''Stones in Her Mouth'' (2013), a mauopera with Maori women as transmitters of a life force through oratory and ancient chants; Orff's opera ''

Prometheus In Greek mythology, Prometheus (; , , possibly meaning " forethought")Smith"Prometheus". is a Titan god of fire. Prometheus is best known for defying the gods by stealing fire from them and giving it to humanity in the form of technology, kn ...

'' for the Ruhrtriennale (2012); ''Le Savali: Berlin'' (2011) confronting the imperial City of Berlin with its own communities of immigrant families in search of belonging and constrained by threat of deportation; ''Birds With Skymirrors'' (2010) responding to the disappearing Pacific Islands, homelands to most of his performers and devastated by climate change; and ''Tempest: Without A Body'' (2008) concerning power and terror and the unlawful use of state power post 9/11.

Selected works

Year and place of world premieres by Lemi Ponifasio * 2017
Vanimonimo
' · Louvre Abu Dhabi, UAE * 2017
Die Gabe Der Kinder
' · Theater Der Welt Hamburg, Germany * 2017
Standing In Time
' mauopera · Festspielhaus St Pölten, Austria * 2016
Ceremonia De Memorias
' �
Festival Santiago A Mil
Chile * 2016

' · KunstFestSpiele Herrenhausen, Hannover, Germany * 2015
Apocalypsis
' (opera_R Murray Schafer) · Luminato Festival, Toronto, Canada * 2015 ''Lagimoana'' �
Venice Biennale 56th Visual Arts Exhibition
Italy * 2015 ''I AM Mapuche'' · Festival Santiago A Mil, Chile * 2014
I AM
' · Festival d’Avignon, France * 2014
The Crimson House
' · New Zealand Festival, Wellington, New Zealand * 2013
Stones In Her Mouth
' mauopera · REDCAT Radar L.A. Festival, USA * 2012

' (''

'' by Carl Orff) · Ruhrtriennale, Duisburg, Germany * 2011
Le Savali: Berlin
' · Berliner Festspiele, Berlin, Germany * 2011
Le Savali Videoinstallation
' ·
Berliner Festspiele
Berlin, Germany * 2010
Birds With Skymirrors
' �
Theater Der Welt, Essen, Germany
* 2010
Tempest: Without a Body
' · Sydney Festival, Sydney Australia * 2008 ''Fale Aitu / Phantom House'' · Lift London International Festival of Theatre, UK * 2008 ''I AM Tuhoe'' · Te Rewarewa Marae, Ruatoki, New Zealand * 2008
Tempest II
' · KunstenfestivaldesArts, Brussels, Belgium * 2008 ''The Loss of Civil Liberties'' · KVS Royal Flemish Theatre, Belgium * 2007

: Oceania Exhibit'' �
Prague Quadrennial
CZ * 2007 ''Tempest'' �
Vienna Festival
Austria * 2007 ''Moana Roa'' · MAU FORUM, Auckland, New Zealand * 2006 ''Requiem'' �
New Crowned Hope
250th Mozart Anniversary Vienna, Austria * 2006 ''Opus Dei'' · MAU FORUM, Auckland, New Zealand * 2006 ''Vasa'' �
St Paul Street Gallery
Auckland, New Zealand * 2006–present ''Pacific Thought Symposium'' * 2005–present ''MAUForum'' * 2003
Paradise
' · Venice Theatre Biennale, Italy * 2003 ''Vasa : Oceania Exhibit'' · Prague Quadrennial, CZ * 2003 ''Threshold Wall : Heart of PQ'' · Prague Quadrennial, CZ * 2003 ''Haka : Heart of PQ'' · Prague Quadrennial, CZ * 2002
Bone Flute
' · Adelaide Festival, Australia * 2001 ''Land'' �
Tjibaou Cultural Centre
New Caledonia * 2002 ''Bone Flute Ivi Ivi'' · Maidment Theatre, Auckland, New Zealand * 1999 ''Landing : New Zealand Exhibit'' · Prague Quadrennial, CZ * 1999 ''Rise'' · Winter Garden, Auckland, New Zealand * 1998 ''Ava'' · Maidment Theatre, Auckland, New Zealand * 1998 ''Light'' · WOMAD, Auckland, New Zealand * 1997 ''Sacred Hill'' · Taupo Festival, Taupo, New Zealand * 1996 ''The Ancient Mother'' · MADD Gallery, Samoa * 1996 ''Lo’omatua'' · Maidment Theatre, Auckland, New Zealand * 1995 ''Illumina: Embracing The Darkness'' · Herald Theatre, Aotea Centre, Auckland New Zealand * 1992 ''Illumina'' · Galaxy Theatre, Auckland, New Zealand * 1991 ''Fish of the Day'' Galaxy Theatre, Auckland, Taki Rua Theatre, Wellington, New Zealand * 1987–1996 ''Solo Work - Body in Crisis'' · diverse countries

References

External links

MAU official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ponifasio, Lemi Living people Samoan artists New Zealand choreographers People educated at St Paul's College, Auckland Year of birth missing (living people)