| Year and length: | 2024, 90’ (Italian premiere) |
|---|---|
| Concept, direction, choreography, costumes, set, sound design: | Lemi Ponifasio |
| Poetry and painting: | Jidi Majia |
| With: | Jili Mezizha, Jigen Fuze, Aluo Zuogumu, Wu Zimo, Peng Zhaoyuling, Qubi Lahuo (Wucaiyunxia Company), Helmi Prasetyo, Rosie Belvie (MAU Company) |
| Lighting & technical direction: | Helen Todd |
| Video and sound: | Alex Waghorn |
| Lighting: | Michael Morgan |
| Technical supervision: | Issac Kirkwood |
| Stage manager: | Stella Chen Sifan |
| Tour manager: | Nancy Chen Simin |
| Production manager: | Sasha Gibbs |
| Executive producer: | Chen Zhongwen |
| Production: | Liangshan Culture and Tourism Group and Lemi Ponifasio / MAU |
Theatre
Lemi Ponifasio - Star Returning: Venice
Description
An ancestral imaginary of earth and air, water and fire, inhabited by gods and humans, underlies the visionary creations of the Samoan artist Lemi Ponifasio. Drawing on the Indigenous cultures of the Pacific—from the Māori of New Zealand to the peoples of Kiribati in Micronesia—as well as from South America, Ponifasio creates, like a shaman, new symbols that speak to our present, where ceremony, performative culture and contemporary theatre converge.
Star Returning: Venice is a way of listening to the earth, to the ancestors and to the shared myths of the Yi people of the mountainous Daliangshan region in China—their cosmology, their origins, and their deep connection to nature, to ancestry, and to the spirituality intrinsic to this culture. Ponifasio writes: “Star Retuning is a community project to honor the complexities of life and infuse our communities with hope and authenticity. Through our collaborative efforts, we can reshape perceptions, inspire action, and resist despair with visions of beauty, strength, and potential”.