New Zealand's Atamira Dance Company Makes Joyce Debut

The Joyce Theater Foundation welcomes the Joyce debut of New Zealand's Atamira Dance Company, the world's foremost creator and presenter of Māori contemporary dance theater, with the New York premiere of the evening-length Te Wheke from March 29-April 2. Tickets, ranging in price from $10-$65, can be purchased at www.Joyce.org, or by calling JoyceCharge at 212-242-0800. Please note: ticket prices are subject to change. The Joyce Theater is located at 175 Eighth Avenue at West 19th Street. For more information and to read about The Joyce Theater's detailed health and safety protocols, including required face-coverings and proof of vaccination policies, please visit www.Joyce.org.

For 21 years, Atamira Dance Company has dedicated its worldwide platform to uplifting indigenous voices and carrying forth the traditions and cultural identity of Aotearoa, New Zealand. For the company's Joyce debut, they draw inspiration from the powers of a great Oceanic mythological creature-The Octopus-in Te Wheke for an evening-length work that journeys through the esoteric dimensions of the human experience. Drawing from the late Rangimarie Rose Pere's model of hauora (wellbeing) and building upon eight Mātauranga Māori dimensions of health, dancers create a fluid, beautiful work within a shape-shifting world of floating black silk, reminiscent of the majesty of the title creature itself. Bringing their signature, complex and thoughtfully-crafted choreography, Atamira Dance Company continues to keep the voices of its home alive through the international language of movement.

Atamira Dance Company is the leading creator and presenter of Māori contemporary dance theatre, driven by choreographic and design excellence. Based in Aotearoa, New Zealand, a remote and wild landscape where indigenous Māori stories are a powerful voice in the arts locally and, increasingly, internationally. As a dance collective, the company offers a rich and diverse program guided by high caliber choreographers. Its research-based practice keeps them at the forefront of cultural and technical innovation, a process of deep collaboration and genuine openness to risk-taking and experimentation. Single choreographic dance works are the heartbeat of the company, which they perform at international arts festivals across the globe. They celebrate and share Māori culture through the arts, and grow the arts through cultural innovation. As well as single dance works, they have created a number of important large-scale performances in collaboration with other arts organizations.

The Joyce Theater Foundation ("The Joyce," Executive Director, Linda Shelton), a non-profit organization, has proudly served the dance community for almost four decades. Under the direction of founders Cora Cahan and Eliot Feld, Ballet Tech Foundation acquired and renovated the Elgin Theater in Chelsea. Opening as The Joyce Theater in 1982, it was named in honor of Joyce Mertz, beloved daughter of LuEsther T. Mertz. It was LuEsther's clear, undaunted vision and abundant generosity that made it imaginable and ultimately possible to build the theater. Ownership was secured by The Joyce in 2015. The theater is one of the only theaters built by dancers for dance and has provided an intimate and elegant home for over 400 U.S.-based and international companies. The Joyce has also expanded its reach beyond its Chelsea home through off-site presentations at venues ranging in scope from Lincoln Center's David H. Koch Theater, to Brooklyn's Invisible Dog Art Center, and outdoor programming in spaces such as Hudson River Park. To further support the creation of new work, The Joyce maintains longstanding commissioning and residency programs. Local students and teachers (K-12th grade) benefit from its school program, and family and adult audiences get closer to dance with access to artists. The Joyce's annual season of about 48 weeks of dance now includes over 340 performances - both digital and in-person - for audiences of over 150,000.

The Joyce Theater presents the Joyce debut of Atamira Dance Company in Te Wheke from March 29-April 2. The performance schedule is as follows: Wed 7:30pm; Thu-Sat 8pm; Sun 2pm. Tickets, ranging in price from $10-$65, can be purchased at www.Joyce.org, or by calling JoyceCharge at 212-242-0800. Please note: ticket prices are subject to change. The Joyce Theater is located at 175 Eighth Avenue at West 19th Street. For more information and to read about The Joyce Theater's detailed health and safety protocols, including required face-coverings and proof of vaccination policies, please visit www.Joyce.org.