Viva Eclectika dance extravaganza wows Auckland audience
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Viva Eclectika is a biennial competition celebrating intercultural dance and music. Now in its tenth year, it took place in the Dorothy Winstone Theatre in Auckland on Saturday 22 August.
The evening was presented by the New Zealand – Asia Association (NZAA) and supported by Asia:NZ. Viva Eclectika aims are to promote unity, goodwill, understanding and positive race relations between the people of New Zealand through intercultural dance and music, to enrich New Zealand- Asian cultural experience through a fusion of Asian dance and music with the tangata whenua, and New Zealand’s diverse cultures.
The high standard of dancers made the judging panel’s task difficult. The panel 
comprised Jennifer King, Director, Culture at Asia:NZ, Dance Aotearoa’s Iosefa Enari and professional dancer Yu Fen Wang.
The overall winners were 18 students from the AUT Bachelor of Dance Programme (pictured, right) who wowed the considerable Auckland audience with a routine entitled “Dancing with Difference”. As they study dance every day, they chose to use a dance book as a prop. The dance influences in the routine included kapa haka, ballet, hip hop, Korean drum dance and Samoan sasa, all integrated in their interpretation of intercultural unity.
The “Missing Festival Dance” group (pictured, right) were edged out in second place, but won best fusion dance with Asian element. Twenty seven dancers fused elements from the Western European and Chinese traditions with great originality and humour over an iconic Kiwi song.
In third place were 29 dancers (pictured below) from Auckland’s Macleans College with “Dreams Alive”, a combination of European, Latin American dancing, Chinese, Indian, Korean drums, live music and a choir.
Minister for Ethnic Affairs Pansy Wong, who presided over the prize-giving ceremony, congratulated the performers as well as the NZAA for organising the event. “Viva Eclectika seems to get more vibrant, colourful and energising each year,” she commented.
The Minister also noted how Viva Eclectika celebrates the diverse culture that makes up New Zealand. “It acts as a bridge between communities enabling all New Zealanders to appreciate the wonderful diversity we have,” she concluded.
