An ex service man, Maaka Pepene devised and based his dance work Memoirs of Active Service on his grandfathers WWII diary to his grandmother.

"It’s like a book of letters to her about how much he loved her and the boys and he longed to hold her in his arms again.  It truly is a taonga that I cherish.  So essentially the work is a love story and about relationships.”

Memoirs of Active Service is also inspired by the 28th Maori Battalion and 1940’s New Zealand. Returning to the stage after a successful season at Auckland Festival 09, Atamira Dance Collective are now revitalising Memoirs of Active Service from July 2. This time Maaka will be taking centre stage along with Justine Hohaia to perform the dance that was inspired by his Grandfathers story.

During what hours of the day do you feel most inspired?
Depending on my mood anytime of the day or night.

How would a good friend describe your aesthetic or style?
Full of spirals and long low lines, earthy, luscious and musical.

What aspect of your creative practice gives you the biggest thrill?
Fulfilling my ideas, seeing them come to fruition.  When inspiration kicks in big time and everything starts flowing, opening new pathways of creation.

How does your environment affect your work?
It doesn’t really, we choose to work where we can so always have to make the most of it while we can.  If anything I may choose a specific to help achieve the concept to realize the dream.

Do you like to look at the big picture or focus on the details?
 For me it’s about the details – the little things.  The big picture is made of many different things, it’s how these are placed, relate, focused or missing etc etc that make the big picture whole.  One of the many things I gained from my time in the Army was the appreciation of the little things that are around us all the time such as nature, family and friends that we sometimes take for granted.  Consciously or sub-consciously we are assessing the environment that we find ourselves in continuously and it’s all the little things that add up to create a larger picture that influence how we see, feel, hear, touch and taste the part of the world we find ourselves in.

What's your number one business tip for surviving (and thriving) in the creative industries?
Make sure you have a compassionate pair of ears that you can share your thoughts, ideas and dreams with.  Someone you can trust to tell you what they really think and not what you want to hear.

Which of your projects to date has given you the most satisfaction?
‘Memoirs of Actice Service’ not only because it is my own wh?nau story but because of seeing it grow and flourish.  It’s really a simple work that I tried to be honest with.

Who or what has inspired you recently?
My son Amorangi who is now 15 months old and really coming to realize what it means to be a father.  He is teaching me so much all the time.

What does Matariki mean for you?
To me Matariki means new life and the continuing cycle of birth to death and so on.  Hope for the future and remembering the past and those who have moved on to another realm.

What is the inspiration behind Memoirs of Active Service?
I have always wanted to create a work based on my time in the Army.  Not about war but about the bonds that are created.  2006 was the Year of the Veteran so it seemed like the right time to realize that dream.

How did you come to devising and basing this work on your grandfather’s diary?
I am the Kaitiaki of my Grandfathers diary from WWII which he wrote to my Grandmother in everyday he wasn’t on the frontline.  It’s like a book of letters to her about how much he loved her and the boys and he longed to hold her in his arms again.  It truly is a taonga that I cherish.  So essentially the work is a love story and about relationships.

What did you learn during this process?
How much I love telling stories and what interests me in relation to choreography.  I learnt more about my own movement vocabulary and the importance of listening to one’s own intuition, being open, honest and truthful in the pursuit of ones dream.  To take control and be assertive.  Managing people is huge and trying to give ownership to those involved is the way I like to work.

How does this translate onto the stage?
It’s really quite a transparent process by engaging with and taking the audience on a journey that they want to go on, to care about what’s happening to those on stage and to take the journey with them, to feel what they feel.

What do you hope the audience takes away with them?
Firstly that their time wasn’t wasted sitting in a black box and that we as performers were able to transport them back to another time and place.

When was the work first premiered and how has it changed since then?
MOAS was first premiered on November 11th 2006 and it has been refined, rough edges smoothed out in all areas of the choreography, music, video and drama

What are the strengths and challenges of the dance industry in NZ?
 In this country one really has to want a career in the dance industry and that in itself brings challenges.  Being able to manage and budget without fully knowing what might be just around the corner is most definitely a set of skills that is a prerequisite for lasting in this industry.  Also to me having belief in yourself and understanding what your own personal strengths and weaknesses are are at the top of my list. 

What's the best way to listen to music, and why?
Anyway you can is good.

What's the best stress relief advice you've ever been given?
Take time out for yourself and your loved ones, don’t worry about the things that you can’t fix and fix the ones you can.

What's great about today?
The sun is shining and I am dancing, I have a beautiful family, what could be better than that.

Maaka Pepene - Tuhoe Potiki, Ngati Hine

Maaka went to the best performing arts school for six years  the Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment. He has been performing for over a decade with companies such as Touch Compass Dance Trust, Auckland Dance Company, Black Grace, Taiao Dance Theatre, Pacific Sisters and most recently for The World of Wearable Arts in Wellington.

Maaka has choreographed, directed and performed for theatre, film and television in Taiwan, Australia, the U.S.A and throughout Aotearoa. His most recent choreographic work was Tatau Rangi for Auckland City as part of their Matariki celebrations, and his chronology of choreographic works include The Whale Rider Stage Production, The Maori Merchant of Venice and Maui Potiki for He Taonga Films, Te Wero for Interdigitate 95, Ether and A Quick Look at Sound, Light and Time. Maaka was named the NZ Listener's Best New Work by an Emerging Choreographer for his debut full length Atamira show Memoirs of Active Service in 2006.