ROCK-ART GETS ROCKING! TORO PIKOPIKO
PUPPETS present the world’s first Māori Rock-Art Puppet Production. In our 22
years of creating and touring Māori themed entertainment for children THE
FLIGHT- TE RERENGA - will be our most immersive, interactive & memorable
show ever. THE FLIGHT – TE RERENGA is an acoustic rock musical, featuring
80 Flatso puppets inspired from ancient cave drawings made on Limestone cliffs
and caves around the Timaru district. The show re-tells a Ngai Tahu legend
about Pourangahua the Birdman and his epic flight to Aotearoa in search of his
own kind. The Birdman flies from cave to cave, meeting a host of colourful characters
including Bats, Creepy Crawlies, Moa, Pouakai Eagles and human Bird Hunters –
who are intent on making Pourangahua their next meal. THE FLIGHT – TE RERENGA is a thirty-minute show, for years 2
-5 pre-school aged children. This
engaging production takes its audience back in time a thousand years where they
get fully involved helping tell the story by animating a host of rock art
puppets that meet up with the Birdman, while he is searching for his whanau. With 2016 research and development funding from Creative NZ, THE
FLIGHT - TE RERENGA is a result of a collaboration with the Te Ana Maori Rock
Art Centre in Timaru, where the show will premiere on Waitangi Day, 2017. Our shared aim is to increase the
appreciation and awareness of indigenous Rock Art among our nation’s children,
so that they may value and help protect these vulnerable national treasures in
the future. A comprehensive nation-wide tour this rock-art puppet show,
organized on a region-by-region basis, is a pathway towards achieving this aim.
Bookings for your centres very own 2017 stop-over of THE
FLIGHT/ TE RERENGA are now being taken, with priority given to those that book
early. Contact: whaitaima@akee.co.nz , or phone 021 241 4541 |