The Joyce Professional Class Series with Atamira Dance Company

Atamira Dance Company with instructors Sean MacDonald and Nancy Wijohn

IN-PERSON (STUDIO H)
GIBNEY 280 AGNES VARIS PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
53A CHAMBERS STREET

Gibney is proud to partner with The Joyce Theater to offer a series of public Professional Classes. Take class and learn repertory with artists performing at The Joyce this season!

New Zealand contemporary dance evolved as a cross hybrid of techniques experienced by early New Zealand dancers training in New York in the 1980’s and 1990’s then returning to share these forms in our geo-political context.

Atamira Dance Company emerged from this synthesis of styles and a growing sense of post-colonial cultural revitalisation. Atamira Dance artists, Sean MacDonald and Nancy Wijohn, will share a format that moves the participants through a range of grounded, organic, fluid, and expressive movement vocabulary that demonstrates the collaborative forces of multi-world views. 40 minutes will be dedicated to physical warmup which would be typical of a New Zealand dance company and then 40 minutes will share the specific movement and conceptual interplay of Te Ao Māori (the Māori world view) that is inherent in TE WHEKE repertoire, our show premiering at The Joyce Theater. The class is aimed at intermediate to advanced levels.

About the Instructors

SEAN MACDONALD (Ngāti Kahungunu, Rangitane, Raukawa, Tuwharetoa) has been part of the Aotearoa contemporary dance landscape for 30 years, dancing with many dance makers and companies. He first started working with Atamira Dance Company as a dancer in the early 2000’s and since then has created his own full-length work Ngā Wai (2020), with the company while continuing to perform in various productions.

NANCY WIJOHN (Te Rarawa, Tūhoe, Ngati Whaoa and Ngati Tahu): Nancy Wijohn’s career spans over 17 years of performance and choreography for theatre, film, television and site-specific purposes. In 2007, she graduated from Unitec’s performing arts degree course with a contemporary dance major. Career highlights include working with her partner Kelly Nash (Body Island), Bianca Hyslop and Rowan Pierce (He Huia Kaimanawa), Atamira, Ōkāreka Dance Company, Douglas Wright, Carol Brown, Santee Smith, Daniel Belton, and Lisa Reihana.

See Atamira Dance Company at The Joyce Theater! Performances run March 29 – April 2, 2023.

About Gibney’s Education Program

Through the cultivation of an inclusive and positive space, our offerings make space for exploration, risk-taking, personal and artistic growth, connection, and fun. It is our priority to listen to and support our community and to empower the future leaders of the field. Learn more.

Photo credits: photo courtesy of the artist.