Moana Showcase
Part of the Pacific Dance Festival 2026
Performed by Unitec - Te Pūkenga School of Dance, Ngā Akoranga Kanikani at the University of Auckland, and the New Zealand School of Dance
Annual showcase of Aotearoa’s leading dance institutions: UNITEC & NZ School of Dance. The best place to see the next generation of Pacific dancers and choreographers. Fresh, bold, innovative works from the country’s top training institutions. Perfect for dance lovers, students, and families.
The Moana Showcase at the 2026 Pacific Dance Festival is a reminder of why this festival has become such an essential space for Pacific artistry in Aotearoa. It is not simply a night of performances. It is a gathering of voices, bodies, and stories that reflect the depth and diversity of the Moana. This year’s programme brings together emerging talent from three major training grounds, each offering its own interpretation of what contemporary Pacific dance can be. The result is a vibrant, layered evening that celebrates identity, resilience, and the creative force of Pacific youth.
The festival itself has always been a platform for connection, but this year feels particularly charged. With artists from Wallis and Futuna, Kiribati, Rotuma, Samoa, Aotearoa, and the Indigenous Pacific diaspora of Te Whanganui a Tara represented across the wider festival, the Moana Showcase sits within a larger constellation of works that honour the evolving identities of Pacific communities. The Showcase becomes a microcosm of that wider kaupapa, a space where tradition and innovation meet in real time.
This year’s lineup features new works from Unitec - Te Pūkenga School of Dance, Ngā Akoranga Kanikani at the University of Auckland, and the New Zealand School of Dance. Each institution brings its own training philosophies and cultural influences, creating a programme that feels wide ranging and full of contrast. The Showcase is not about polished perfection. It is about emerging choreographers testing ideas, pushing boundaries, and grounding their work in lived experience.
The opening work, performed by Millie Carey, Miere Christensen White, Mia Raeli, and Amelia Tapsell, sets the tone with confidence. Drawing inspiration from the iconic Māori and Pasifika bands of the 60s and 70s, the dancers channel a sense of nostalgia while grounding the work firmly in the present. Their movement vocabulary blends groove, gesture, and contemporary technique, creating a fusion that feels both familiar and fresh. The piece explores what it means to carry the spirit of the moana into the city, to hold cultural identity close even as the world around you shifts. It is a work about pride, connection, and the quiet resilience that comes from knowing where you come from. The dancers move with a sense of unity that draws the audience in immediately.
One of the standout works of the night is Pupa, choreographed by Mya Fisher and performed by Mikah BatachEl and Wiseman Zekaria Mataiti. This piece is a meditation on transformation, exploring the instability of identity and the constant negotiation between who we are and who we are becoming. The choreography is grounded in tension. Bodies pull, resist, collapse, and rebuild. The dancers navigate a shifting physical landscape that mirrors the internal process of change. Nothing is fixed. Everything is in motion. The work captures the discomfort and beauty of growth, reminding the audience that becoming is rarely linear. It is a thoughtful, emotionally resonant piece that lingers long after it ends.
The Showcase then shifts into a more intimate register with a solo choreographed by Amelia Tapsell. This work captures a very specific, very relatable moment: the frustration of being stuck on hold. The choreography plays with stillness, repetition, and the slow simmer of irritation that builds when you are forced to wait. Yet the piece is not simply about annoyance. It becomes a study in surrender, in learning to sit with discomfort, in finding calm within a situation you cannot control. Tapsell’s ability to turn an everyday experience into a moment of reflection is impressive. The solo is understated but effective, offering a quiet pause in the middle of an otherwise high energy programme.
The highlight of the night for many is the duet by Praise Tupa’i and Nikita Black. Their performance is a burst of charisma and connection. From the moment they step on stage, the energy shifts. Their chemistry is undeniable. They play off each other with ease, weaving comedy, cheekiness, and sharp physicality into a work that feels alive. The duet explores the moment when two people click, when differences dissolve and something shared emerges. Their timing is impeccable, their movement crisp, and their presence magnetic. It is the kind of performance that makes the room lean forward.
The Showcase closes with Nothing Leaves the Parade, a work that transforms the stage into a living environment. This piece is less about narrative and more about atmosphere. It draws on the concept of Vā, the relational space that shapes Pacific worldviews, and uses it to build a shifting landscape of sound, movement, and memory. Live DJing, recurring siren calls, and a physical language rooted in South Auckland and Pasifika experience create a sensory world that feels immersive. The dancers move through this environment as if navigating a parade that never ends, one that is constantly reshaped by community, history, and collective energy. The work challenges the idea of a parade as a one way spectacle. Instead, it becomes a shared space where audience and performers exist together. It is bold, layered, and deeply rooted in place.
What makes the Moana Showcase so compelling is its sense of community. Even with its varied styles and tones, the programme feels cohesive because it is grounded in shared values. Whānau, identity, and connection run through every work. The Showcase celebrates the next generation of Pacific artists while honouring the traditions that shaped them. It is a reminder that Pacific dance is not static. It evolves, adapts, and continues to speak to the world around it.
The 2026 Moana Showcase is powerful, joyful, and full of heart. It highlights the strength of Pacific youth, the richness of their stories, and the importance of giving them platforms to be seen and heard. It is a celebration of community, creativity, and the enduring pulse of the Moana.
Performed as part of the Pacific Dance Festival 2026. Find out more here
Review written by Josh McNally
Edited by Alex Moulton
