Show Quest 2023

Show Quest is an annual Secondary School’s dance competition which incorporates dance and drama. It is a show that involves a school’s presentations to combine lighting, costume, hair, and make-up and presented with a LED visual display. Each presentation was required to have a social theme. One Tree Hill College chose to focus on the Dawn Raids for their social theme. They wanted to spread the message about how migrants contribute to the community. In 1970, Pacific Islanders were requested by the New Zealand government to migrate to New Zealand to help with the labour shortage. Although historically a sorrowful situation, the students wanted to touch on the positive changes. They did a lot of research about how the Pacific Islanders contributed positively to the economy during the time. The students liked how these Pacific people made a difference to New Zealand during this time and their piece showed this.

Show Quest allows people to think outside the box. The way the students positively danced was their way to transfer their emotions into healing. They wanted to honour their families who had been impacted by the Dawn Raids. For them, it felt like generational healing. Students stated that the Show Quest was “very cool” because of the creativity while Polynesian Panthers representatives also expressed their delight in how these times were seen through the eyes of the younger generation. They appreciated how the performance could educate the public about the Polynesian Panthers in a positive way.

Congratulations to Ms Kumar and her students for a wonderful display.

DIYA NEGI, SALWA KAMBL & RACHEL DAUNOCO

NEWS MEDIA TEAM