DANCE REVIEW: Manu Malo
1.06.2023 at ASB Waterfront Theatre
This review is part of the 2023 Pacific Dance NZ Festival!
The image of an elderly man lying on a naked stage is, at first, unsettling: is someone going to check if he's okay? This is a work that will leave you jandal-slapped in the kindest way possible. From the creators that gave us Leeches, this new offering is the opening of the 2023 Pacific Dance Festival programme. Afio mai; Welcome back PDF. The stage has waited patiently for your return, and are we GLAD to see ya!
Manu Malo. It's Samoan Language Week, and if this were a road sign, you'd be on a fantastic journey.
Oratory lifts a performer and carries them across the stage. The voice is steeped in knowledge; knowledge of self, of culture, of respect, and being connected and connecting to community. This inadvertently is the journey, and we like journeys, no matter what language. Manu Malo is a challenging work, in that language, the language of movement, and the language of space and time, all combine to massage you. What is laid bare is slowly clothed in texture, coloured with the taste of kava, or kombucha. Manu Malo is simmering, and we love it!
"DUA!" (Fijian for 1, for the road-rager's)
Counting is everything!
"RUA!"
Our seat just warmed up.
"TOLU!"
The audience is screaming. This is normal. Do not head for the fire exit.
"VA!"
You will feel the urge to scream. This is normal.
A polyphony of sounds will play its way into your skin, and you will move with it.
This is also normal.
A slither of light is a corridor into a world of grace that beckons attention to detail. This lesson in isolation is a lesson in being isolated. Ahem. Can someone please sponsor this brother's hair? Did we mention the slither of light? Hands meticulously flow into manu, into moana, into fetu, and back into the arms of the storyteller.
A ritual of cleansing appears before us and a duet with parents is able to shed the clothes off their backs. Literally. Their daughter eagerly bursts water bombs over them before her display of conviction and determination in how to own a stage. Passing on their love of movement to their child is a lesson in itself.
Manu Malo never disappoints. This company reveals yet another perspective for us to consider. This is dance for those who are not afraid to be challenged. Every soloist is a master of their art form. Pure, honest movement that is not shrouded by thought patterns; dance that cannot confuse, and therefore cannot convolute. Every soloist is steeped in their knowledge of self, of culture, of being connected, and in connecting communities.
And then Jahra Wasasala appears on stage. Forgive us, Jahra, but it has to be said. WTF?! That was amazing! Jahra is no stranger to Pacific Dance Festival audiences. They have dissected and analysed their craft, and their body is a voice that intimately undergoes the pain, and pleasure, of movement. A visceral and other-worldly experience. I was at the birth of my goddaughter nearly 27 years ago and Jahra's dance matched that experience. Vinaka vakalevu.
Aloali’i Tapu's direction is clear: strip everything back and reveal what is left. It is a walk down Memory Lane where the pathway has just enough light for you to see it. The sense of community is strong, and well-understood. Manu Malo is a welcome addition to Samoa Language Week, and the Pacific Dance Festival 2023. Take yourselves along to see this show, or at least one of the other works that is on over the next 2 weeks. Check out the programme here.
Ia Manuia lava.
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Director: Aloali'i Tapu
Presented by: Ta'alili and Pacific Dance Festival
Full Cast and Crew here