Ori Around The City
More large scale exposure was the goal. We want people to see us, hear us, and know we are here.
It is still surprising to us when people say they have never heard of Tahiti, or Samoa, or Tonga. The lack of exposure people in New York City have to Polynesian and other Pacific Islanders, our culture, and dances has become a very apparent obstacle to us. We took on the initiative in 2017 to do a performance of some sort every month to further spread the culture here in the city. Though we will always be in a setting of teaching, we wanted, to some degree, have a sense of Pacific Island cultural normalization. It is quite an effort.
Central Park, NYC
This is where our initiative started. Rushing between engagements, work, and class, hustling to and fro around the city is a normal thing for us. It is nice to take a moment to breathe, enjoy the beautiful green vegetation and fresh air, and take your shoes off and connect to the earth.
It doesn’t take much for us to turn a lot of heads in Central Park, especially when there are costume involved. There are always several curious bystanders. Sometimes we are able to get some of them to dance with us.
Brooklyn Bridge
This site proved to be quite challenging as there is never a moment when the area is free of tourists, joggers, and cyclists. Theres no changing room or a backstage on the bridge. Luckily we had an all-star team managing the crowds and guiding us tp the best areas and keeping people from walking on top of us, all while answering their questions, and getting great shots and video.
The Highline
Ok so this one was another tricky area, simply because it was a narrow walking passageway for most of the Highline, and there were lots and lots of people. So when we did what we do, we held up traffic. These costumes were full vegetal, and they took a lot of time as they were complicated breastplates. Once again, no dressing room, and we were very exposed, literally, being covered only by a few leaves. Regardless, it was a stunning performance and costume.
Brighton Beach
We had double duty at this location. For another project we did a hula at sunrise filming. This would be part of a larger multiple dance company project. There were lots of laughs with costume malfunctions and other ghetto rigged costume pieces. Plus, the water was not the warmest and so it was fun trying not to show the shivering while trying to dance our ote’a.
Old Montreal, Quebec
So a true test of your costume making ability and creativity is an overnight challenge with just a dollar store at your disposal. This should definitely be an Ori Tahiti costume challenge. An impromptu performance shoot came up while traveling once again to Montreal. Its quite amazing what you can come up with at a dollar store. Curtains, rope, burlap, floral arrangement elements, rocks, shells, and scarves, and go!
Rockefeller Park, Battery City
If you have made it this far, give yourself a pat on the back. This was a time of transition with a big turnover. When you are in a city with limited resources and dancers, it can be frustrating, as we are always seem to be needing to replace people who move on to other opportunities. However, we understand that people have other aspects of their lives as well, and we do our best to accommodate everyone who exhibits a desire to learn and expresses a commitment to do so.
