Born of destruction
World War Two brought Maria Dabrowska’s parents together. Credit: Andrew Foster.
The Wellington-based dancer was born in Lower Hutt - but her mum’s Polish, her Dad’s Dutch and both were displaced from wartime Europe, and settled in New Zealand at a young age.
Dabrowksa, who studied performing arts and dance in Wellington and Auckland, says she was born from a state of destruction.
“If there hadn’t been that war and that displacement of people, my parents wouldn’t have met,” she says.
Dabrowska freelanced in Auckland for a few years after finishing her studies, before moving back to Wellington and working on a number of collaborations including shows for Bats, Circa and the World of Wearable Arts.
Growing up, she used to hear her parents’ wartime stories and they always stayed in her imagination. Her mother was bundled out of her home in the middle of the night, put in the back of a cattle truck and sent to Siberia.
“I found a real connection with that story and I find myself thinking a lot about my mother. I always wanted to make a work about her,” she explains.
Now Dabrowska has used her family history as the inspiration for her new show Carnival Hound. It’s an investigation of the emotional foundations that bring war into existence, says Dabrowska.
“Carnival Hound looks at power struggles, the emotional interplay and the imagery that comes from war,” she explains
Dabrowska researched her performance by talking to her mother and reading historical books both from the Polish society and others from a German perspective.
“A lot of people got on board and recommended me books. There were a lot of stories similar to my mother’s.”
Dabrowska plans to tour the show, which features “physical, theatrical contemporary dance,” in Auckland next year. She wants her mother, who now lives in Tauranga, to see it for herself.
Carnival Hound, Downstage Theatre, November 3-5.
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