E ngaro ana koe?

Kia Ora! My name is Ella Rerekura and I am so excited to share that I am debuting my first full-length multimedia dance work called E ngaro ana koe? 

This work has been a slow burning dream of mine since 2022, inspired by my continious desire to know who and where I come from. E ngaro ana koe? made in collaboration with 7 Māori movement artists, is a karanga to confront the raruraru that often sits deep within the puku of those who feel disconnected from their whakapapa.

We are calling on our friends, whānau and wider communities to invest in our kaupapa of activating māori storytelling through the lens of performance art. 

Ella Creative Director | Performer 

​​Ōtautahi raised and Tāmaki Makaurau based, Ella Rerekura (Te Āti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi, Ngāti Rangi, Ngāti Tūwharetoa) debuts her first full-length work in collaboration with friends.

Ella’s multidisciplinary practice spans dance, choreography, writing, pigment making, and archival processes, tools she uses to explore the complexities of her identity as wahine, Māori, and CODA (Child of Deaf Adults). Her work is deeply rooted in her whakapapa journey, reflecting a personal commitment to understanding and embodying the presence of her tūpuna and how they reside in her body today. 

Renee Producer

Co-Recipient of the Auckland Fringe’s Basement Theatre Disruptor Award for How Inconvenient, 2022, Renee Wiki (Te Aupōuri, Ngāti Kuri, Te Rarawa, Ngāpuhi, Cook Islands, NZ European) has a performing arts background in Pacific Contemporary and hip hop dance. Her journey has shifted from the stage to behind the scenes, where she now crafts space for live arts to flourish. 

Renee’s work is rooted in collaboration and guided by a deep commitment to her communities. She serves as a conduit for local artists to explore bold ideas. Her work champions powerful, boundary-pushing productions that resonate, provoke, and leave a lasting impact.

We have carefully hand picked these incredible artists, who are all part of E ngaro ana koe? and its haerenga to Basement Theatre. 

Show Details

Director: Ella Rerekura

Cast: 

Indiana Carder-Dodd

Harrison Cook (AUS-Digital)

Rewa Fowles

Eli Free (AUS-Digital)

Tara Hodge

Ella Rerekura

Hayley Walters-Tekahika

Set Design: Juliet Lloyd & Ella Rerekura
Stage Manager: Tiani Taia Po'ona
Sound Designer: Connor Magatogia
Lighting Design and Operator: Māhia Te Kore
Tuakana: Janaye Henry, Liam Jacobson, Gabby Terras
Producer: Renee Wiki & Ella Rerekura
Presented By: Ella Rerekura 

Partly funded by Creative New Zealand (CNZ) Early Career Fund Ngā Toi Māori 2025 - Round 1

We are so incredibly thankful for our generous donors. 

Your pūtea will be going towards: 

• Personnel costs: Partial compensation to our artists, technical support and offering some financial & emotional relief. 
• Accessibility: making our show more accessible with an NZSL interpreter 
• Administration: printing programme notes, music rights (APRA)
• Marketing: To help us reach audiences that deserve to see the show

If we hit our target and be matched by a generous $6k donor(s), we will have the ability to: 

• Pay our dedicated Director, Producer, Cast, Stage Manager, LX Designer & Operator and Graphic Designer
• Be able to create a more accessible show for our Deaf / Tangata Turi community. 

"E ngaro ana koe?" translating to “Are you lost?” was a dance solo I started developing in early 2024, inspired by the pūrakau of the infamous Whanganui taniwha, Tūtaeporoporo. This work explored the imaginings of how Tūtaeporoporo might manifest into my tinana, interpreting the pūrakau from the lens of Tūtaeporoporo himself, as well as questioning the kind of tupuna I desire to become. Unfortunately, due to sickness I was unable to perform this iteration of the work last year for “Future Ancestors” by Bad Apple Gay.

After some much needed rest and reflection, it became apparent to me that E ngaro ana koe? Was calling for a shift in energy and required to be re-imagined with its community in mind.

Now set to debut at the Basement Theatre from the 26th to 30th of August. 

E ngaro ana koe? Presents itself in its second development, as a full-length multimedia dance work that questions: How do we break bread with our taniwha?

This work embodies the shedding of skins, the practice of growing new niho, and the act of morphing—again and again and again. Exploring how we live out the legacy of our tūpuna without knowing their names, it is a karanga to face the raruraru that often sits deep within the puku of those who feel disconnected from their whakapapa and how we can redefine this experience.

Weaving pūrākau and personal journeys, E ngaro ana koe? highlights eight powerful movement artists as they find communion in confronting their individual and shared taniwha. Each night is a unique experience of movement, poetry, archival film, sculpture, and connection to the virtual ether.

For more info on our show Check out our Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moko_archives/ 

This work is crucial because it was made to resonate with tangata Māori and indigenous people who feel disconnected from their whakapapa and native land.

In my own experiences of disconnection from my māoritanga, it has been through my art practice, friendships and community that I have felt the most held and understood. A whakatauki that I deeply resonate with is “Nāu te rourou, nāku te rourou, ka ora ai te iwi” meaning “With your food basket and my food basket, the people will thrive”. 

Not only are we making a cool new show, but this is an opportunity to connect and grow our kete of skills as artists, but more importantly, grow our community of predominantly Māori artists. For E ngaro ana koe?, it is about recognising the wealth of everyone in the room and the meaningful contributions each person can make. Thus reflecting our expansive team.

The significance of this mahi is heightened in current times, as we continue to be misrepresented by others who encourage the spreading of misinformation and claim that we hold an advantage because of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Many Māori are still searching for a sense of belonging.

This work is vital for the aunties and uncles back home who struggle to say “Kia Ora” or hesitate to learn te reo māori out of embarrassment. This is the kind of taniwha we need to acknowledge, grieve, and face together as a community, and I believe this show will spark that much-needed conversation.

If you’re still on the fence about supporting our kaupapa, here are some key things that you would be supporting by donating today: 

• We believe in this show because we are the tellers of our own stories. 
• We want to provoke everyone with a sense of urgency to follow their puku’s desires “following your gut” to find out more about your whakapapa and in turn connect with whānau and friends.
• Celebrating the practice of passing down knowledge, stories and mātauranga.
• Dare to be Māori (Encouraging those who weren’t brought up in Te Ao Māori to be brave when you feel called to your papakāinga)
• The practice of making the work is emblematic of the show's theme of whakapapa
• Allowing Māori artists to be compensated for their mahi and have a sense of belonging in society.