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DANZ QUARTERLY Issue No 13 – October, November, December 2008
A Legacy
for the Ages
By Phil Reed
They come from Samoa,
Tonga, the Cook Islands,
Fiji and – of course –
New Zealand, and grew
up on the streets of
Rongotai, Wainuiomata,
Strathmore and The
Hutt. But the story of
Wellington’s Legacy
Dance Crew is not so
much about where
they’re from.
It’s where they’re going.
On the surface, Legacy Dance is a Pacific-flavoured blend
of high-energy hip hop dance, high-flying street acrobatics,
breakdancing, krumping and even a solid dose of theatrical
clowning for comic effect. But it’s the impact Legacy hope to
make on the community, through their schools mentoring and
community outreach plans that set them apart from many dance
organisations in New Zealand.
Within six months of forming, Legacy had made the finals of the
World Hip Hop Dance Championships in 2006, and continued
that steep rise by placing second at this year’s New Zealand
championship event. Their groundbreaking show The Chronicles,
a choreographed narrative about the history of hip hop in New
Zealand and where the crew’s members came from, picked
up the Best Newcomer award and Highly Commended Dance
at the 2008 New Zealand Fringe Festival, leading Wellington’s
daily newspaper The Dominion Post to claim “Legacy steals the
show”. Reviewer Jennifer Shennan said: “These guys are class.
Give them a van, fund their workshops, invite a performance at
The Beehive, and commission them to tour South Auckland. They
could turn the place into a world showcase.”
Fringe Festival director Mark Westerby says Legacy electrified
the Fringe community with their sold-out performances at Te
Whaea, a fact not missed by the judging panel when it came time
to discuss Best Newcomers. Legacy were so impressive on
many fronts,” he says. “It was a high impact show with amazing
energy and tongues were wagging after the first performance.
But that was only the half of it; the show demonstrated a very
strong sense of creativity, direction and polished production
values. It totally had that ‘X’ factor.”
By the time these words are printed, the nine-strong troupe
of wildly acrobatic entertainers would have returned from Las
Vegas, where they battled the globe’s best from 30 nations at the
2008 World Hip Hop Dance Championships.
But it was touch-and-go whether Legacy would’ve made it to Vegas. Needing $40,000, Legacy couldn’t find sponsors and failed to attract enough support. Enter DANZ, who guided Legacy with professional
and moral support that culminated in the stunning Hip Hop Exposure event at Wellington’s Opera House
in late June. For one night, b-boys and girls, MCs and dance crews from all over the North Island turned
the Grande Olde Lady of Wellington’s high-culture scene into something resembling the Bronx. And it
worked, raising enough money to send the crew to Vegas, with their own personal savings as well.
“Nothing is impossible if you really want it badly enough,” explains Legacy Manager Liston Peilua. Legacy
co-founder and spokesperson Ben Uili adds: “the more you work, the more things start to happen. Our
message is with anything you do, don’t give up.”
It could’ve been easy for Legacy to give up on their dream to hit Vegas. Faced with little prospect of an
easy cure-all of sponsorship, they had a choice: pack it in and try for next time, or give it a go. DANZ’s
executive director Tania Kopytko hooked the crew up with publicity mentoring and advice. “(DANZ) have
been amazing! They are passionate about what they do and about helping others in the dance industry,”
says Peilua. “Tania was fantastic, she attended our rehearsals, listened to our goals and placed people in
our path with the skills to mentor us. They
have been instrumental to our success
because of the support they offered.”
Part of that success has been a
willingness to think beyond the here-andnow
of hip hop dance, says Peilua. Just as
their award-winning show The Chronicles
outlined the choices some of Legacy’s
members had to face. The crew itself
faced a choice of being good at their hobby
or making their hobby a career.
“Hip hop dancing in competitions was all
the guys had done, and we didn’t want to
just focus on competitions because we
wanted to explore ways to become a full
time dance company,” explains Peilua.
“Developing the performance aspect and
touring was just one of the vehicles for us
to work towards this goal – but this isn’t
the be all and end all of what we’re doing;
this is just the start, really.”
To that end, Legacy is developing a
comprehensive programme that they hope
to cement into Wellington-region schools.
Already, most of Legacy’s dancers (Ben Uili, Haini Palu, Ezra Toma, Jonate Lealea, Richie Karati, Alesana
Pereira, Pat Godinet, Yashua Lesa-Amataga, Corey Solomona, Tony Allen, Adam Avei and Ray Leota)
teach youth groups, hold community workshops and instruct private classes. When you consider the
philosophy of Legacy, where the members have come from and the difficult choices some have had to
make, coupled with their unique ability to make a difference in the lives of the next generation, a Legacy
schools programme shapes up as a valuable asset to mentoring young people.
Looking into his crystal ball, Peilua is confident Legacy will be a viable and valuable organisation. “We’ll
be touring internationally, running a strong schools programme and we’ll have hundreds of dancers in
our company,” he says. “We have some pretty big goals but to us, anything is possible. We know hard
work and perseverance will help us turn dreams into reality – it’s already starting to happen for us.”
But it’s about making it happen for others not as fortunate – yet – to be in Legacy’s position, whether it be
competing against the world’s best under the glitter and glamour of Vegas, or turning on young people to
positive choices through community outreach and school programmes. As Peilua explains, it’s not about
what Legacy does, but what it can do for others:
“There was a time we performed in
Palmerston North for Te Matatini,
which is the National Mãori Kapa Haka
competitions,” recalls Peilua. “Thousands
of people were there and we were there
for three days. When we got back, there
was a comment on our web page from this
girl; basically she said that her younger
brother was into drugs, drinking and he
was going nowhere. She wrote to say
thank you because we had inspired him to
take up dancing and that because all his
energy to was going into dancing he had
no time to do all that bad stuff.
“I remember reading that as if it were yesterday. That was a pretty special
moment, and it’s comments like that, that really make you feel humble about being
part of Legacy.”
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