Pasifika Australia

News & upcoming events Vaka Pasifika Australia - Explore ANU. Thursday 10 & Friday 11 May 2012 Vaka Pasifika Australia Application form. Application deadline 3 May 2012 at 5:00pm

Recent events

Hip Hop Workshop - 11 April 2012

Bust'n Your Move Pasifika Stylez

Hip Hop brings academics and high school students together

Pasifika Australia hosted high school and college students from Queanbeyan and Canberra at a Hip Hop seminar and dance workshop on April 11, 2012 at the ANU Campus.

The two events emphasised that higher education and tertiary studies is not just about the traditional studies of law, commerce and medicine to name a few; but university can be a place where one can make a career out of almost anything that they are passionate about and is familiar to their community. Hip Hop, notably Pacific Hip Hop was the stimulant in the message.

Dr. April Henderson, director of Va'aomanu Pasifika, Centre for Pacific Studies, Victoria University of Wellington presented a paper on "Embodying diasporic knowledge, from Popping to Polyswag". The paper illuminated the stories and accomplishments of four Samoan hip hop choreographers from the US and New Zealand, and how they have led the evolution of popular street culture and hip hop.

Hip hop bringing out the best in students Photo courtesy of James Walsh

Those in attendance at the seminar were then invited to participate in a hip hop dance workshop, to put in to practice the stories presented at the lecture. Dave Kuresa, an up and coming Samoan hip hop choreographer from Brisbane who still in his teens has a repertoire of leading two Australian hip hop crews to world hip hop competitions in the U.S., and is lead choreographer for the Queensland Red's Rugby Dance Squad led the workshop.

The ANU Recreation Centre went alight as students and academics of every shape and size "ripped" the dance floor "bust'n their move" to Dave's hip hop composition that embodied different styles of hip hop, as alluded to in Dr. Henderson's lecture of "popping" and "polyswagg" but also moves from traditional Pacific dances. There was a flurry of laughter and excitement in the two hour workshop in where one college student, Makayla Wyatt testified, "I had so much fun, I did not know university was this fun, I could not and did not want to stop." As for the ANU students, postgrad student Ishak Beno could not stop smiling and saying "it is amazing how two hours of hip hop can really de-stress after two weeks of mid semester assignments and tests."

Choreographer Dave Kuresa Photo courtesy of James Walsh

With events such as the Hip Hop seminar and workshop, students are exposed to array of university pathways and university life. As another college student pointed out in her hip hop experience at ANU, it felt "as if I was not in Canberra, a different and great place for me."

Acknowledgements

Dr. April Henderson was hosted by Gender and Cultural Studies and Pacific Studies, School of Culture, History and Language in CAP and the Asian and Pacific Cultural Studies Network in CAP and CASS.

Dave Kuresa was hosted by Pasifika Australia (Student Equity and Pacific Studies).

About us

Pasifika Australia is an equity and access project of the School of Culture History and Language. It consists of a community of ANU students and staff who are passionate about equity and identity issues facing Pacific Islander communities in Australia.

We greatly value culture and education as pathways to addressing these issues and we aim to:

• raise awareness about Pacific Islander cultures and issues locally and nationally,
• enhance educational outcomes for young Pacific Islanders, and
• pursue research questions related to the educational status of Pacific migrant communities in Australia.

Our main activity to date has centred on an annual workshop for Pacific Islanders in years 10-12 from the ACT and NSW. In 2009 this program received the Outstanding Community Award from the NSW Council for Pacific Communities.

Many of us are Pacific Islanders, and all of us are a part of Oceania. Pasifika Australia started in 2008 and our activities are supported by CHL, CAP and a grant from the ANU Equity and Educational Enhancement Office.