A feast of colour and dance

A feast of colour and dance

It has more costume changes than a Cher concert and is jam-packed with enough colour to give a drag queen a fit. The Polytoxic Dance Company is heading to Sydney for a short season at the Sydney Opera House.

Their latest production, Teuila Postcards, features three dancers Lisa Fa’alafi, Efeso Fa’anana and Leah Shelton and tells the story of three tourists to Samoa, in the process deconstructing the realities of and misconceptions about Polynesia.

In true Polytoxic style, Teuila Postcards is infused with tongue-in-cheek, physical comedy, clever satire, beautiful costumes and an ever-changing set, Polytoxic performer and co-founder Efeso Fa’anana said.
The set morphs into various formations while interacting with the multimedia component and the live performers.

The show fuses a blend of traditional Polynesian and contemporary dance. Fa’anana said there are more dance styles than So You Think You Can Dance.

It is important as an artist to embrace your background and to be able to articulate your interests and passion, he said.

I believe Samoan dance is embedded in me and contemporary dance theatre excites me and allows me to make my culture more and more relevant to me and to an audience.

It has been really hard for us to define exactly what it is that we create because of the many styles, aesthetics and contexts that we delve into.

The show, presented through a series of vignettes, debunks and challenges stereotypes with the issue of sexuality touching on almost all of the stories.

The gay community, I’m sure, will find the fa’afafine section of the show interesting. The fa’afafine section seeks to shed light on a gender phenomenon that is embedded in Samoan culture, he said.

I don’t believe we are trying to -˜expose’ anything that anyone doesn’t already know. I think we raise the topic for you to laugh at or read into or be moved by.

info: Teuila Postcards is at the Studio, Sydney Opera House, April 29 – May 2. Tickets: 9250 7777 or sydneyoperahouse.com. Tickets start at $20.

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