Porotiti Mindfulness Meditation & Taonga Pūoro Workshops with Rob Thorne
Dunedin Public Libraries and Puaka Matariki Festival 2021 in association with Creative Communities and Yellow Eye Ltd present a series of workshops by Taonga Puoro composer, performer and anthropologist Rob Thorne.
The porotiti is a traditional Māori musical instrument known to also be used in traditional healing.
Suspended by a cord, and spun with both hands in front of the body, while known as a children’s toy, it is also renowned as medicine for the respiratory system, the chest and spine, the spirit and the mind. In this workshop the participants learn and achieve both a moving and a breathing meditation that also incorporates a sonic meditation made by the instrument. Participants also learn about traditional Māori musical instruments (taonga pūoro), and how to play an instrument (the porotiti). Each workshop participant receives their own porotiti to take home at the end of the session.
This 90 minute workshop will focus on teaching folk about the relationship between culture and sound while exploring within the fluid gap between traditional and modern perspectives. They will come to experience the simplifying but empowering effects of improvisation within performance that will translate into everyday living and identity. It also gives participants the opportunity to develop an understanding and appreciation of the arts as well as the creative process.
Workshop outline:
• Brief introduction to taonga puoro.
• The porotiti, its tradition, its functions, its potential.
• Mindfulness and meditation as a practice of wellness,
• Mechanisms of meditation: self, extended repetition, mantra, mindfulness, flow.
• Performance as action with purpose and narrative.
• Learn to play the porotiti.
• Rob demonstrating his instruments with looping technology
Rob, Ngāti Tumutumu, was the recent Creative NZ / Jack C. Richards Composer-In-Residence at the New Zealand School of Music, Victoria University, Wellington. He has travelled, performed and presented at a number of overseas events and gatherings including Womex on a number of occasions.
Rob is a profoundly original voice in the evolving journey of Taonga Puoro. His inaugural solo album on Rattle Records, "Whāia Te Māramatanga" (2013) is a deeply felt and highly concentrated conversation between the past and the present - a musical passage of identity and connection. Using modern loop technology and traditional Māori flutes and horns made from stone, bone, shell and wood, Rob creates a transcendent aural experience that touches the soul with timeless beauty. Every performance is a stunning and very personal exploration of the spiritual and healing qualities of an ancient practise.
Family-friendly event, suitable for ages 5 and up
Koha entry
BOOKING ESSENTIAL (numbers limited)
Tour dates & Booking links:
Tuesday 13th July, 6-8pm – Karitane Hall, Coast Road (in association with Waikouaiti Library)
Wednesday 14th July, 6-8pm – Downes Room, Mosgiel Library, 7 Hartstonge Avenue
Thursday 15th July, 6-8pm – Port Chalmers Library, cnr Beach and Grey Street
Saturday 17th July, 2-4pm – Dunningham Suite, 4th Floor, Dunedin City Library, 230 Moray Place