Moana Showcase is an extravaganza, part of the Pacific Dance Festival 2025. The young talent from the South Pacific diaspora and beyond.
Many ethnicities and the varied tribes within that. Diverse in identity and sexuality. Peaceful to defiant and angry.
Nurturing feminine energy to combative male. Anima to animus.
At its creative core, Dance is a form of energy that can be transformative and liberating. Can work as an ensemble or solo.
I would not pretend to understand the techniques and special language of the Art form. But like the sold-out audience here tonight, we can all respond to the visceral nature of what we witnessed.
The show starts with And Still, We Danced. Choreographers Katarina Poata and Hayley Crisp.
Both from the New Zealand School of Dance. Crisp was born and raised in New South Wales, Australia before settling here.
Six dancers who move in fluid synchronous harmony, drawing attention to the breath as the primal energy source. Resemble the breathing practice of Yantra, the most ancient of yoga practice which taps the primordial source. Air.
Combat dance with break moves, choregraphed like stunt fighters. Me Pehei Te Ki, choreographed by Samara Te Aniwa Reweti. Driving force to this piece, the act of reclaiming the ancient tongues of ancestors.
Break, Rap and Hip-Hop have all originated in the streets and clubs of New York. I vividly recall its origins in the late 70’s, from Kurtis Blow, Cool Herc and Grandmaster Flash.
To become a dominant force in the 90’s and infiltrating the world of Dance. We can ignore the false flashpoint of Aussie Raygun at the ’24 Olympics, which seemed to be an attempt to denigrate. Didn’t work.
Becoming, Unravel choreographed by Leilani Grace Tonu’u and Lily-Mae Baird.
Tonu’u is Samoan and identifies strongly with her Pacific Island heritage and the movement of brown bodies. Is there a clear distinction between dance and sport?
The best boxers are also the most poetic movers, like Ali and Tyson. Norman Mailer once likened professional boxers to a special type of lovemaking, when he wrote a book on the Ali-Foreman fight in Kinshasa.
Baird is from South Korea but grew up in South Auckland. She identifies as Queer.
Their dance begins as two women dressing all in black, intertwining in a dreamscape of fluid motion. Lyrical and they build a tale from it.
Big House beats and bass drops. Industrial warehouse dance club introduces Avante- Era.
Nathan Albay Gacusan is a Queer Filipino. Ratu Loaloadravu Komaiwainickia Wakalevu is from Fiji and might be of similar disposition.
Both intended this performance to be confrontational with the expression queer rage, joy, and scratching against the grain.
High standard of athletism and demanding physical prowess. Approaching the standards of highly lauded overseas dance companies.
I didn’t know Dance could be so spiritual, to quote Gacusan when he first chose the path.
Both Tonu’u and Wakalevu choreograph I Woke Up with The Island in My Mouth.
Two groups form up and the attitude is combative. More deep bass drops, then the addition of a great live pianist matched to a woman singing in operatic tones.
Strange movement from the men. Colourful surrounds and the dancers are bathed in blue light.
This is not just a movement. This is resistance. When the island sits on your tongue, what stories dare to surface?
Final routines end with traditional Polynesain dance styles and melodic pop swing melodies.
Seductive hip sways and hand movements that resemble classical Hindu female dance. Seductive.
A Polynesian Hallelujah leads out fast rhythms and sticks percussion. Possibly log drums on the soundtrack.
An exhilarating Moana Showcase.
Rev. Orange Peel