June 28, 2018
Theatre space a game changer for Positive Wellingtonian
Dance and theatre impresario Tānemahuta Grey says his Absolutely Positive Wellingtonian award is a tribute to all those involved in Māori theatre in the capital.
Mayor Justin Lester says Mr Grey, from Ngai Tahu and Rangitāne, has made an enduring contribution to performing arts in Wellington since starting ballet as a six-year-old and studying dance alongside kapa haka.
He is the Kahukura of Taki Rua Productions and has transformed the once struggling company, which last year toured the major work Tiki Taane Mahuta.
Mr Grey says Wellington is a great place to create art, and in the last few years the Māori theatre community has come together in a dedicated space, Te Ahu Kāinga.
"Having a whare and the community has come together, different (theatre) companies have come together to fund it and make it work by sharing resources so it has just been a game changer for us and why we have been able to attract a lot of amazing works out of the hau kāinga in Wellington and tour them all round the country and up to the Auckland Festival and the Wellington Festival and kind of dominate the landscape for Māori and Pacific work," he says.
Tānemahuta Grey is currently producing Taki Rua's He Kura E Huna Ana at the Herald Theatre in Auckland until Saturday.
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