Full Pacific Dance Festival 2019 Programme Goes on Sale

Pacific Dance Evokes with Virtuosity and Elegance
The 2019 Pacific Dance Festival Programme is on-sale!

Acclaimed and accomplished Pacific dance artists take the floor in the fourth rendition of thePacific Dance Festival, bringing a moving feast of entertaining and thought-provoking theatre, workshops, screenings, choreographic labs and more. The festival in June is bigger than ever and offers an opportunity for audiences to experience the varied and outstanding Pacific artistic spirit that Tāmaki Makaurau has to offer. Taking place in venues across Auckland, for the first time the festival will launch and premiere at the ASB Waterfront Theatre in central Auckland.

LEECHES [Friday 7th June, 2019] will headline the festival and its premiere at the ASB Waterfront Theatre will be a tour de force of Pacific contemporary dance. Featuring lead choreography byAloalii Tapu, the full-length work is created and performed by a collective of nine award-winning and internationally acclaimed dancers, featuring Braedyn Humphries, Connor ‘Ooshcon’ Masseurs, Jahra ’Rager’ Wasasala, Taniora Motutere, Sione Fataua, Elijah Kennar and Faith Schuster. The work is underpinned by Tapu's own 'Lofty Release', a movement practice that has a virtuosic and intricate movement language, while the story follows the modern experience of being Kiwi and Pasifika in a Eurocentric country.

The festival programme continues with the following full-length showcases at Mangere Arts Centre:
• Moana: Tuesday 11 & Wednesday 12 June 2019, 7-8pm
The staple short-works show returns with a diverse line-up featuring ‘Lalo’ by Ankaramy Fepuleai, ’Stolen Stories’ by FAF SWAG artist Manoa Teaiwa, ‘Ave Ese’ byTofifailauga Misa, Lyncia Muller and the New Zealand School of Dance.
• Triple-bill: Friday 14 June 2019, 8-9pm
Debuts of three new works by Uftia Sagapolutele, Laifa Ta’ala and Aue DanceCompany
• Maui: Saturday 15 June 2019, 7-8pm
The award-winning Nesian-hip-hop fusion dance by Hadleigh Pouesi and Freshmans Crew returns for one night only after a hugely popular season at the Auckland Fringe Festival 2019
• Siva Mai: Sunday 16 June, 5pm
Composer Opeloge Ah Sam offers an expression of modern Samoan identity through music and dance
• Kapu Akari: Saturday 22 June 2019, 8-9pm
Aue Dance Company premieres their latest full-length piece, a fusion of their previous award-winning works Opaque and Reka
The Artist in Residence programme has been a feature on the Pacific dance calendar for the past nine years. Now, as part of the festival, it offers senior dance artists the chance to work with the local communities and this year Auckland is in for a treat, with Fijian based dance troupe Rako Pasefika taking the 2019 residency. Fresh from Blues Fest Byron Bay, creative associate Samuela Konusi Taukave will be joined by company dancers Emily Marie and Iane Tavo for the residency which commences in May to coincide with the New Zealand Rotuman Language Week and runs through the June festival.

In addition to the public performance programme, the festival will also give dance enthusiasts the opportunity to participate on a variety of platforms. A series of free workshops and open rehearsals offer the public a taster of the brilliant talent in the Festival right throughout June, while another fabulous collection of original Pacific dance films will be on show at the Auckland Art Gallery on Sunday 23rd June. For creatives, the tenth year of the Pacific Dance Choreographic Lab the opportunity to develop an original dance work, this year led by choreographer Tupe Lualua of Porirua, who will workshop her new work with Auckland based female dancers. A range of dance and professional development talks will also take place in locations around Auckland.

The Pacific Dance Festival 2019 is now on-sale, with printed programmes available from festival venues.

PACIFIC DANCE FESTIVAL 2019
Wednesday 5 - Sunday 23 June
https://www.pacificdance.co.nz/

#PACDANCEFEST #PACIFICDANCEFESTIVAL

LEECHES
Friday 7 June, 8pm, ASB Waterfront Theatre
Tickets available from ASB Waterfront Theatre, book here
Waged adult - $50
Unwaged adult - $28.00
Student, senior & industry - $28.00
Concession 10+ tickets - $40.00

All other shows are held at Mangere Arts Centre
Tickets available from Eventfinda
Waged adult - $25.00
Unwaged adult - $20.00
Student, senior & industry - $18.00
Children (3-14yrs) - $12.00

Imagery available via Dropbox

PERFORMANCE PROGRAMME:

Exhibition and Festival Launch
Wednesday 5th June, 6pm; ASB Waterfront Theatre, Auckland Theatre Company
Festival launch followed by short snippets of works from the festival programme, and a performance by Tahiti Ia Ora. An industry invited event – please contact marketing@pacificdance.co.nz if you would like to attend

‘LEECHES’
Friday 7th June, ASB Waterfront Theatre, 8pm; Auckland Theatre Company
LEECHES follows nine award-winning and internationally acclaimed dancers and their experiences living the modern experience of being Kiwi and Pasifika; their turmoil and triumphs of living in a Euro-Centric country. The performers take on character roles of members of society in order to reflect and challenge how the modern Pasifika person is perceived by one another and New Zealanders
Tickets available here

Moana
Tuesday 11 June, 7pm; Mangere Arts Centre
Wednesday 12th June, 7pm; Mangere Arts Centre
A collection of short works by emerging dance artists Ankaramy Fepuleai with ‘Lalo’, ’Stolen Stories’ by FAF SWAG artist Manoa Teaiwa, Tofifailauga Misa’s ‘Ave Ese’, Lyncia Muller and the New Zealand School of Dance.
Tickets available here

Triple-bill
Friday 14th June, 8pm; Mangere Arts Centre
Triple-bill performance, featuring Vivian Aue’s 'Melville Place', Laifa Ta’ala and Ufitia Sagapolutele’s latest original dance work on various personal stories from women.
Tickets available here

Māui
Saturday 15th June, 7pm; Mangere Arts Centre
Hadleigh Pouesi & Freshmans Dance Crew
Māui is a piece that uses dance, music and physical theatre to tell the stories that we grew up with and have travelled throughout the Pacific for hundreds of years. Māui demonstrates strength, growth, leadership and vulnerability and through movement these stories are re-told in a way like never before.
Tickets available here

Siva Maia
Sunday 16th June, 5pm; Mangere Arts Centre
Opeloge Ah Sam
A performance that follows the expression of modern Samoan Identity through music and dance -moulded and fused together with styles such as Jazz, Ballet & Arabic dance.
Siva Mai explores the dilemma many Pasifika people have who grow up in multi-cultural environments and households where they have bi-cultural identities and more.
Tickets available here

RAKO PASEFIKA Artist in Residence Showing
Monday 17 June, 5-6pm, Venue: Te Oro Arts Centre
International group RAKO show the work created with communities of Aotearoa.
FREE: All welcome, for more information please contact by email: auckland@pacificdance.co.nz

Kapu Akari
Saturday 22 June, 8pm; Mangere Arts Centre
Aue Dance Co. Choreographed by Vivian Hosking-Aue
KAPU AKARI is a physical dance montage exploring the themes of sacred traditional Pacific ceremonies, rituals, protocols and events where a coconut cup and coconut husk is being used. Also exploring the importance and significance of a tanoa (kava bowl).
Tickets available here

WORKSHOPS AND FILM SCREENING:

First Friday co-hosted by Pacific Dance NZ & Tautai
Friday 7th June, 6-7pm, Venue TBC
A dance talk with artists Julia Gray and Raymond Sagapolutele.

Producers Workshop (20 places available)
Date to be Advised, The Trades Hall, 147 Great North Road, Grey Lynn
Topics covered in the workshop: producing shows, funding resources, marketing and insights into the industry from arts stakeholders.
FREE: To register for this workshop, please contact by email: auckland@pacificdance.co.nz

Le Taupou Manaia
Wednesday 19th June, 7-9pm, Grey Lynn Community Centre
Le Taupou Manaia presents a workshop on Traditional Samoan Siva
FREE: To register for this workshop, please contact by email: auckland@pacificdance.co.nz

Choreographic Lab Showing
Friday 21 June, 8-9pm, Venue TBC
Established Choreographer and Director of Le Moana Dance Company Tupe Lualua shows her newly developed work E Au le Ina’ilau A Tama’ita’i a proverb in Samoan for female legacy of achievement.
FREE: Register to view this showing, please contact by email: auckland@pacificdance.co.nz

Tahiti Ia Ora
Workshop 1 Saturday 15th June, 4-6pm; Grey Lynn Community Centre, Grey Lynn
Workshop 2 Saturday 22nd June, 2-4pm; Te Oro Arts Centre, Glen Innes
Tahiti Ia Ora presents a workshop of Tahitian drum and dance.
FREE: To register for this workshop, please contact by email: auckland@pacificdance.co.nz

Pacific Dance On Screen – film screening
Sunday 23rd June, 3pm; Auckland Art Gallery
Pacific Dance New Zealand and the Auckland Art Gallery present a public screening of selected Pacific Dance short films and footage.
FREE: To register for this screening, please contact by email: auckland@pacificdance.co.nz

ends

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