UP-SIZE YOUR DANCE COMBO: PACIFIC DANCE NEW ZEALAND ANNOUNCES DIGITALLY-FOCUSED FESTIVAL PROGRAMME FOR 2022
Image credit: Raymond Sagapolutele
Directed: Cilla Brown | Styling: Viv Hosking-Auē
Pacific Dance New Zealand presents
PACIFIC DANCE DIGITAL FESTIVAL
23rd June - 31st July 2022
Pacific Dance New Zealand is excited to announce its festival line-up for 2022 featuring a combination of digital, virtual, and in-person shows and workshops. The programme is packed with options, giving audiences the freedom to pick-n-choose what they would like to see and do in 2022. The safety of audiences remains of utmost importance, as is ensuring that artists are maximising opportunities to perform and share their creative works while utilising immersive technologies during the pandemic.
Pacific Dance New Zealand will launch their action-packed 2022 festival season with a revamped website and their very own dedicated festival channel on Wednesday 15th June. The festival channel will operate as a pay-per-view platform for audiences to subscribe to for a nominal fee of $5 to view all 2022 festival works. Channel content will be made available for subscribers from Monday 11th July and fresh new works will be added weekly through to the 31st of July. Festival favourites, such as live in-person workshops and Dance OnScreen will still go ahead during the festival, giving audiences the chance to come out, engage and have some fun on the weekends.
A new addition to the line-up will be Festival Talanoa dance talks, which will feature some artists as well as heritage masters: Molia Alama-Tulafono of Tuvalu, Alipate Traill of Fiji and the Tupumaiaga A Niue Trust. Included in this is a new collaboration with Dutch podcaster T-Zer of Dance Specific Talks who will host our intern Leki Jackson-Bourke and producer Kasi Valu.
The popular MĀUI showcase by Freshmans Dance Crew will show in collaboration with Auckland Live during Matariki celebrations and will include school matinées and a one-night only public-performance on Thursday 23rd June at the Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre.
Pacific Dance New Zealand Director Iosefa Enari MNZM says "Tena koutou. The arts community in Aotearoa have been through a tough two years, with many shows being cancelled and reshuffled as levels and settings changed. COVID created an uncertain future and as we begin to return a sense of 'normality' I am thrilled that we are able to offer our artists space to re-present. This years line up is eclectic and diverse. It represents Pacific Dance post-COVID. It is confident, current and courageous. The shift to the digital platform has been a new era for the festival. This shift opens our reach to a global market and we welcome all our new followers to our shores. Enjoy this year's line up."
The festival channel will feature the following works:
Shifting Centres produced by Le Moana and Kasi Valu featuring works from Oto Lupo and Sefa Tunupopo
Shel We? the film by award winning choreographer Tupua Tigafua
MOANA featuring, Desiree Soo-Choon, Anton Pulefale, Keesha King, Losaline Tupou, Laifa Ta’ala and Toa Paranihi and Brydie Colquhoun from The New Zealand School of Dance,
Dance Battle by Hadleigh Pouesi and Fresh Movement Trust
Concrete Bloom by Aloali’i Tapu & Manurewa High School
New Dawn by Sisuno Helu
Pacific Dance OnScreen featuring:
Walk With Me by Joshua Faletua and Tyler Carney-Faletua of Threading Frames on Sunday 24th July 3-5pm at the Academy Cinema, Tickets $15pp will be available at Pacific Dance Festival's website from the 15th of June.
Our FREE festival community workshops:
On Saturday 9th July 11am, IAMMD (I Am My Mothers Daughter) with Viva-Leah Palalagi-Elesoni
On Saturday 16th July 3-5pm, Tahitian Dance with Tahiti Ia Ora
On Saturday 23rd July 3-5pm, Kuki Airani and Ei Katu with Aunty Kura Taruia
Tickets for the MĀUI evening show will go on sale to the public on 19th May 2022 and will be available at Ticketmaster.
Follow their social media feeds on Facebook (@Pacificdancenz) and Instagram (@pacificdance_nz) for updates and front row seats into the creative experience of our artists before their full works are made available.
The Pacific Dance Festival for 2022 has been a moving feast and the team invite audiences to enjoy it in a way that will suit you. Whether it be at home or as a combo with our in-person events, it is up to you. Engage in one or more, or up-size and enjoy all the entertainment on offer from our very own Aotearoa-based Pasifika artists before they fly the coop!
PACIFIC DANCE FESTIVAL 2022
Thursday 23rd June – Sunday 31st July
Subscriptions for Festival Channel
Available from Wednesday 15th June
www.pacificdance.co.nz
Tickets for MĀUI
On Sale Wednesday 19th May
www.ticketmaster.co.nz
PERFORMANCE PROGRAMME:
Festival Launch
Wednesday 15th June, 6pm-7pm, Online
Festival launch and festival channel GO-LIVE followed by short snippets of works from the festival programme.
MĀUI
Matinée performances Thursday 23rd June, 11.00am, 1.00pm;
Evening Show 7pm, Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre, Aotea Centre
Hadleigh Pouesi & Fresh Movement with Auckland Live
MĀUI is a piece that uses dance, music and physical theatre to tell the stories that we grew up with and have traveled throughout the Pacific for hundreds of years
Dance Talanoa
Wednesday 29th June, 7pm - 8pm, Online
MOANA Showcase Artists
Desiree Soo-Choon, Losaline Tupou, Laifa Ta’ala, Anton Pulefale, Keesha King and Toa Paranihi and Brydie Colquhoun from New Zealand School of Dance
Wednesday 6th July, 7pm - 8pm, Online
Heritage Masters hosted by Iosefa Enari MNZM
Molia Alama Tulafono, Alipate Traill, Tupumaiaga A Niue Trust
Wednesday 13th July, 7pm - 8pm, Online
Dance Specific Talks, Netherlands
Leki Jackson-Bourke, Kasi Valu
Shifting Centre
Premiere: Monday 11th July, 8pm
Produced by Le Moana, Kasi Valu
Directors: Oto Lupo, Sefa Tunupopo
Shifting Centre is an exploration of what Aotearoa would look like if Pacific Peoples were at the centre of the narrative in all facets of society. First developed in Le Moana's Measina Makers LAB 2021, the dance film merges street and contemporary dance to highlight the intrinsic excellence imbued within our Pasifika communities.
New Dawn by Sisiuno Helu
Premiere: Monday 11th July, 8pm
A work featuring the talented Daniel Mateo, an Aboriginal-Tongan from Wiradjuri country (NSW, Australia), and a performer with Bangarra Dance Theatre
Shel We? – The Film
Premiere: Monday 18th July, 8pm
An invitation from Tupua Tigafua
Inspired by the works of renowned American writer and lyricist Shel Silverstein who wrote iconic ballads such as Sylvia’s Mother for Doctor Hook and A Boy Named Sue for Johnny Cash. Shel’s off-beat style and brilliant use of metaphorical imagery in his poetry and illustrations are what inspires Tigafua’s choreography – ultimately delivering a tribute to his parents, his family and the environment that has inspired him over the years.
MOANA
Premiere: Monday 18th July, 8pm
A collection of short works by emerging dance artists Desiree Soo-Choon, Losaline Tupou, Laifa Ta’ala, Anton Pulefale, Keesha King and Toa Paranihi and Brydie Colquhoun from New Zealand School of Dance
Pacific Dance OnScreen
Sunday 24th July 3pm-5pm, The Academy Cinema
Walk with me by Joshua Faletua and Tyler Carney-Faletua of Threading Frames
Fresh Movement Trust - Battle
Premiere: Monday 25th July, 8pm
Choreographers will make a semi-formal work on 35 Fresh Movement Dancers. The works will be set throughout ‘Zeal West’ and is an interactive experience where audiences are led throughout the building to view the show in its different elements.
Concrete Bloom - Aloali’i & Manurewa High School
Premiere: Saturday 30th July, 8pm
Aloali’i Tapu’s residency results in a work choreographed with friends and performed by the high schools students. Their art work includes designing the stage, film, dance and visual art.
FREE WORKSHOPS AND EVENTS:
IAMMD – I Am My Mothers Daughter with Viva-Leah Palalagi-Elesoni
Saturday 9th July, 11am, Māngere Arts Centre Ngā Tohu o Uenuku
TAHITIAN DANCE WORKSHOP
Saturday 16th July, 3pm – 5pm
COOK ISLAND DANCE & EI KATU WORKSHOP
Saturday 23rd July, 3pm – 5pm