Birds With Skymirrors premiered in 2010 and has been winning rave reviews ever since. This is a multi-layered, multi-media production; a series of highly stylized images that create a mystical world onstage. Lemi Ponifasio meshes the great myths of the Pacific (the ceremonies, gods, animals, and poetry) with acute contemporary aesthetics in this hauntingly beautiful 90-minute work. 

“I am delighted to bring the talented and inventive Lemi Ponifasio and his company MAU to the NAC at last, said Dance Producer Cathy Levy.  Lemi’s Birds With Skymirrors is a stunning and provocative work which pushes the boundaries of contemporary dance while bringing us a unique perspective on his heritage and the world we live in today.  It’s a fitting performance to finish our diverse and wide-ranging 2012-13 season of NAC Dance.”

Lemi Ponifasio/MAU performs the award-winning, internationally renowned Birds With Skymirrors in the Theatre of the National Arts Centre on Friday May 24 and Saturday May 25, 2013 at 7:30 p.m.
NOTE: Partial nudity

Post-Show Chat with Lemi Ponifasio
Friday, May 24, 2013

About Birds With Skymirrors (2010)

Concept, set design, choreography, and direction: Lemi Ponifasio

Lemi Ponifasio drew his inspiration for the production from an experience on the Pacific island of Tarawa when he observed frigate birds carrying what appeared to be ribbon-like mirrors in their beaks. On closer inspection, he saw the mirrors were actually strips of magnetic videotape the birds had salvaged from a large floating island of debris in the ocean.   Birds With Skymirrors examines man’s often reckless interaction with the environment and the catastrophic events that can and do result. In the production, Mr. Ponifasio creates scenes charged with dramatic tension that make demands, that challenge audiences to reflect on the future of the environment and all life forms which inhabit it. 
 

About Lemi Ponifasio
Lemi Ponifasio was born in Lano, Samoa and is now based in Auckland, New Zealand. He is one of the country’s leading theatre artists and a pioneer in the evolution of Pacific contemporary dance and theatre. He is founder and artistic director of MAU (established 1995, named after the Samoan independence movement), a platform for critical reflection and creativity with artists, scholars, activists, intellectuals, and community leaders. MAU is no ordinary dance troupe, including fishermen and factory workers among the professional performers, and fusing mythology, ritual movement, and storytelling with contemporary dance theatre. While known for his radical approach, Ponifasio's work is firmly rooted in the values of the Pacific. His performances exist in a state of ritual and ceremony and in between the elements of dance, theatre, oratory, and the visual arts. Lemi Ponifasio, who is a High Chief of Samoa, received an Arts Foundation Laureate Award in 2011 and was named senior Pacific artist at the annual Arts Pacifika Awards in 2012.

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Information:
Clara Wicke, Marketing and Communications Officer, NAC Dance
613-947-7000, ext. 379
clara.wicke@nac-cna.ca