Pacific Dance Festival 2018

Overview

In June, Aucklanders will have the opportunity to witness Pacifica culture represented through movement. The Pacific Dance Festival is back for its third year with a collection of live performances, workshops, film and costume exhibition.

The festival will include seven different shows spanning several weeks. It will kick off with two nights of Moana (June 12-13) , a collection of short works by local Pacifica dancers and choreographers and students from the New Zealand School of Dance. On June 14, the performance Blueprint follows with a blend of hip hop and contemporary dance and theatre. Next will be two nights of Goodbye Naughton (June 15-16), a dance-theatre performance premiere which tells the stories of Otara artist Aloalii Tapu.

On June 19 and 20, the double-bill ANGA + POU will take the stage with two separate showcases. First, Anga, a performance that looks at the "what ifs of urban spread". A contemporary Pacific and street dance work, Anga will explore what would have happened if islanders had never been caught in the "urban drift" of Auckland. Dancer Xavier Breed will then present Pou, which will explore the strong family, cultural and religious roots Pacifica people experience: "the perceived pillars of life that hold us up and keep us standing tall as children of the Pacific."

The premiere of Bionica is on June 21, with choreographer Jacob Tamata presenting "a series of activations reshaping audience through the experiences of young, queer, indigenous artists." Finally, June 22 and 23 will showcase Cloaks of Perfection, performed by Fijian dance group Rako Pasefika, which will be an introduction to a blend of multimedia and performance installation set to open at the end of 2018, MamaHanua.

All performances will be held at the Mangere Arts Centre.