The evening opened with Waitaketake, performed by Tūrongo Collective. Here, water and blood moved as living memory, carrying the weight of ancestry, protection, and knowing. The work held a quiet provocation, asking how connection is carried in the body, and how it is seen by those who do not understand its depth.

In the second half, Myokine by Anne Plamondon gathered the body into motion as a site of release and renewal. Through rhythm, precision, and collective breath, the dancers revealed the body as both vessel and response, holding resilience, beauty, and a fragile, enduring hope.

Together, these works formed Pīata, an evening shaped by contrast and continuity, where grounded cultural knowledge and contemporary expression moved alongside one another, each illuminating the other.