A Pacific performance

[Stacey King]

By DELWYN DICKEY - Rodney Times Last updated 05:00 16/07/2009

DANCING QUEEN: Eunete Kiatoake shows how it’s done.
Children from the Kiribati and Tuvalu communities gave a lively performance for invited guests at Warkworth Primary School. Many of the island communities’ members work for various businesses in the Warkworth area, particularly with capsicum growers Southern Paprika who employ 80. With 38 of the children now at the school, music facilitator Linda Gribble decided a cultural performance group would be a good idea. English is a second language for most, and the group was also seen as a way to get the children together and make them feel more comfortable at the school.

It has been very successful with only one of the children from the community not joining up, she says.They have performed for many different groups. On the day of their special presentation at the school they also put on a show at a local resthome. Originally, the group had no uniforms, but after performing at a local church an English couple donated $100 toward costumes, says Ms Gribble. The boys are now sporting bright and colourful lavalavas and the girls bright tops with skirts ingeniously made from video tape.

The school performance was a build-up to independence day celebrations yesterday. While Tuvalu is a member of the Commonwealth, Kiribati became a republic in 1979 and each year there is a big celebration for people from the republic living in New Zealand.