Dance and arts could be a medium to protect nature and raise awareness on climate change says O Tahiti Dance, director and co-founder Elina Von Reiche.

With season three now completed, she reflected on their showcase held at Samoa Arts and Culture Centre in Malifa.

“This is our third season, and we have grown significantly. The theme was “Faatura Te Natura” ( protect nature) on climate change. It's the culmination of all our Samoan and expat student dancers hard work over the last two terms," said Von Reiche.

"We started with showcasing mother nature's beauty, its sea creatures, the food she gives us from the land, the coconut tree our Polynesian tree of life and all of mother nature's beauty. We then transitioned to a more serious side and the effects of climate change including ocean storms, cyclones, wildfires and drought and famine.

"Whilst full of sadness, these last four pieces resonated strongly with our students with three young 12-year-olds collapsing from famine on stage, which was very emotional for the people bringing tears to their eyes. This seemingly got people reflecting on what they can do to help our environment which is an intentional continuation of our education piece within our school. 

"We then reflected on our Polynesian people and our identity, and how we as Pacific people need to defend our homes. It wasn't all doom and gloom as we then invited audience members to dance with us."

They had a dance competition which brought a nice positive closure to their show. Audience members also enjoyed raffle prizes with close to $7,000 worth of prizes handed out. 

"Not bad especially if you bought a $20 ticket. We have kids for $20 and adults at $40 which is great value considering the investment into the production itself. We also had guest artists for our show, so we partnered up with another educational school, Solfa Music School who performed the live music," Von Reiche said. 

She also highlighted the difference in this year's show compared to the previous ones.

"I think this year from a creative perspective, I put a bigger emphasis on storytelling, and it took me a while to decide that climate change was the right thing to go with. But then there’s also the part about trying to piece it together to tell a story. Even though I have five different dance class levels teaching 11 hours weekly, some had no idea what the other classes were doing," she said. 

"So, when we came to our stage rehearsal, they realised it was a whole story. I think this year was far more storytelling which allowed a better connection with the audience. I had a lot of feedback around the show on how emotional it was for the people and how it made them think of what they could do. 

"What is their part in helping Mother Earth? And that is exactly the intent that I was after. Not only educating the students and reminding them but also resonating with the audience.

"Before it was usually a back to back items but now there’s a story to tell. So looking to the future, with potentially season four, we will continue down the path of storytelling. We also had a master teacher who was here a couple of weeks ago, and that was something different this season. A huge boost not only for myself but of confidence to my students, and realizing that the teaching of the culture has so much to give but also us Polynesians have so many links to the Samoan culture."

She also mentioned that her plans for next year are bringing back fresh learnings for the school terms. For the show, she's yet to confirm whether it would be a legend or a love story only time will tell.

"This year was a sold-out show, I’m realising now that we require a bigger venue for our production. That’s also something that I’m looking into. But I’m all about innovation, I’m happy to look at other options out there that people may have never experienced," she said.

"It took us five hours to finish one costume for the young ones and there were 21 students for that specific costume. There is a drastic increase in investment in costumes this year as well, huge money-wise, but also time, effort and creativity. We partnered up with Arilei Couture, and we tried and partner up with a guest designer, last year was Leata and this year is Arilei Couture. 

"They did an amazing job. We had two suitcases full of materials that came directly from Tahiti as well. We could not have done without the support of everyone involved."