LA County Museum of Art Presents Fiji-based Dance Troupe VOU

There is an extraordinary film showing on the LA County Museum of Art (LACMA) YouTube channel that includes the premier of Fiji’s leading dance company VOU. The film, designed in four parts, is in conjunction with LACMA’s exhibition Fiji: Art & Life in the Pacific. Each section, DRUA, ULUMATE, BURE KALOU, and MATAKAU represent different aspects of the Fiji’s ancestral history and features choreography by Giovanna Varea and costumes by Petrina Osborne and Alacia Ranavono. The film is both educational and inspirational. It is beautifully conceived, recorded and performed by VOU, which in Fijian means new.

VOU blends the old and the new, traditional and contemporary through live music, dance, and storytelling. “VOU represents the ethnically-diverse Fijian culture and the dancers have been involved in VOU research to discover more about their heritage and roots. VOU runs a research program to help dancers from Suva go to their traditional lands to learn their own unique chants and dances to keep them alive in modern society” (VOU website).

The ocean plays a central role in Fijian culture both practically and symbolically. DRUA, videoed by Navi Fong and Gabriella Ho, was inspired by the role that the drua, a double-hulled sailing canoe, has played in the islanders transportation and communication between islands. Dressed in all white, the beautiful dancers perform in the jungle, on the beach and in the ocean. The movement symbolized the drua, the ancestors and the importance of the ocean to their existence. The movement is both ritualistic and contemporary, abstract and literal. The camerawork and cinematography are exquisite.

Fiji Contemporary Dance Company VOU – Screenshot form DRUA by LADC

The cast of DRUA include Evangeline Kumar, Alacia Ranavono, Tupou Sinclair, Laukata Banu, Wani Cere, Shayal Kumar, Petrina Osborne, Merana David, Stuart Tuidela, Sekove Tuni, Tom Kaibalouma, Elia Korovulavula, Halavala Ligan, Malakai Tuima, Neori Ravuso, Peni Sawiri, Sainivalati Senileba, Tevita Senileba, and Kaminieli Waqavonovono. The music is by Rasa Soro and Yasi Soro.

Model of a drua sailing canoe

Completely different is ULUMATE, a wig made of human hair tightly bunched and secured onto a frame. The ulumates were made from the hair of slain enemies and worn by men to signify a period of mourning until their own hair grew back. ULUMATE is a look at wars waged by Fijian men and Varea’s choreography for 12 amazing men reflects those battles. It includes athletic and well-timed duets, rituals performed in combat, and the taking of enemy scalps. This section was videoed by Gabriella Ho.

The cast of ULUMATE are Navi Fong, Stuart Tuidela, Sekove Tuni, Tom Kaibalouma, Elia Korovulavula, Halavala Ligairi, Malakai Tuima, Neori Ravuso, Peni Sawiri, Sainivalati Senileba, Tevita Senileba, and Waqavonovono. The composer is Eden Hulholland.

BURE KALOU (portable temple) is a traditional house of worship in which villagers went to seek wisdom and counsel from their ancestors – “a meeting ground between the seen and unseen (notes from video)”. A woman falls asleep inside the temple and is visited by her ancestors, some of whom whisper knowledge into her ear. Here Varea uses pedestrian movement to represent the woman’s body as a house of worship, her womb the meeting ground and her blood the symbol of new life. The videographer for BURE KALOU was Navi Fong.

The cast of BURE KALOU includes Evangeline Kumar, Alacia Ranavono, Tupou Sinclair, Laukata Banu, Merana David, Stuart Tuidela, Sekove Tuni, Tom Kaibalouma, Elia Korovulavula, Halavala Ligairi, and Malakai Tuima. The music was by Eden Hulholland.

Bure Kaloe – Fiji Temple

The final section is titled MATAKAU (female figure) is the most mysterious and includes the least dancing. It is more like a mini-movie with a spirit living in a chest or armoire. The matakau is a wooden figure used as a way to communicate with the spirits of people who have passed to the other side. Here it appears to be a young woman communicating with her mother or other beloved female. The woman becomes a child and the at the end joins the spirit inside the armoire. Fantasy meets reality, or does it?