Four members of the Vou Dance Group will be in the Expo 2017 in Astana, Kazakhstan from this week.

Vou director, Sachiko Soro said they’re honoured and excited to be representing Fiji for the first time there.

She said the hour long production is all live music by the dancers and opens with a chant.

“Ni sa rogo na veivanua, na noqui talanoa meu tukuna- so this the opening line and we want to introduce ourselves with pride as we have come all the way from Fiji,” Ms Soro said.

She said they wanted this performance to unfold as a personal story of the Fiji Islands so to represent Fiji as an interesting, complex and multifaceted society rich with heritage and stories.

“We then tell the story of life in Fiji through the different sections, such as a moving and theatrical preparation for a Fijian wedding ceremony. The respect and use of Fijian objects such as the mat in all chapters in life, such as birth, hair cutting and death, a scary fight and challenge that shows our fierce warrior spirit.”

During the production the multicultural society with personal stories from the dancers that are of i-Taukei, Indo-Fijian, and mixed heritage that dance their personal lineage.

Soro said the piece ends in celebration of the rich history and diversity of Fiji as a nation. The dancers will be in Astana, Kazakhstan for six weeks.

BACKGROUND

• The Expo 2017 is an international exposition taking place from June 10- September 10.
• This year’s theme is: “Future Energy” and aims to create a global debate between countries, non-governmental organisations, companies and the general public on the crucial question: “how do we ensure safe and sustainable access to energy while reducing carbon emissions.
• More than 100 countries are expected to participate at the event.

JUST A GLANCE- Q&A

GM: Just comparing the last five years for VOU to now?

SORO: We’re in exciting times now because we are consistently touring, we have had five groups working this year. Three in different locations internationally, and two in Fiji. We’re trying to really focus on the quality of the performances so that has meant we have to work backwards and really invest in the training and development of the dancers.  We have to focus on their fitness, technique training, their diet and their professional mental development which means a lot of reading and developing their creativity and ideas. We want to encourage independent and free thinking dancers that are responsible so we can send them to different parts of the world and they are good representation of our country and beautiful culture.

GM: Tell us about the Vou world tour?

SORO: So far this year Vou dancers have toured Shen Zhen in China, Dubai and Spain. Just a few weeks ago they were part of the festival tour to the United Kingdom and Austria.

And currently dancers are based in China performing in Shanghai for two months. Kazakhstanwill be the seventh country Vou has been to this year.

GM: Your future plans?

SORO: We have very exciting plans to expand the services that we provide locally and internationally to the tourism industry.

And we want to really focus on developing the careers of the young Fijian artists that we have in Vou, so that we can open up more opportunities for Fiji to be showcased on the world stage.