Fijian dance troupe to tour the Baltics

Fiji’s leading international touring dance company, VOU, which means “new” in the Fijian language, will be traveling to the Baltic States after three electrifying performances at the United Kingdom’s Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, and performances in Slovenia.

It will be the dance group’s first tour of the Baltic States, with performances scheduled in Riga, Vilnius, and Tallinn.
VOU will be performing in Latvia on July 2 at the Terrace in Galleria Riga, and in Jurmala. The ensemble will further be running community workshops at the Pacific Art Gallery space on Vilandes 16, Riga. The dance group will then travel to Vilnius, Lithuania, and conclude its tour in Tallinn, Estonia.

“What we can expect is an explosive and vibrant Pacific experience which will transport Baltic audiences to Fiji,” said Suluo Daunivalu, a Fijian himself, and director of the Museum of Pacific and Oceanic Arts in Riga.
“What VOU will share with audiences through dance is Fiji’s rich ancient stories, tradition, and culture.”
“Through the medium of live music and dance, VOU will be presenting a creative blend of old and new, traditional and contemporary. It will deliver traditional story-telling through the media of contemporary dance and music,” said Daunivalu.
As well as performing hundreds of shows across Fiji, VOU has also performed at events and festivals in Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, the US, Canada, and China, including representing Fiji in contemporary dance for the Fourth and Fifth Melanesian Festival in New Caledonia and Papua New Guinea and the 11th Festival of Pacific Arts 2012 in the Solomon Islands.

“They also successfully performed in this year’s Festival of the Pacific Arts, which was held in Guam,” said Daunivalu,
While on tour in the Baltic States, VOU will be complementing performances with performances at local community events and schools to raise awareness of dance and music in Fiji.
VOU’s tour of the Baltic States has been made possible with the support of the Tapa Foundation along with the Museum of Pacific and Oceanic Arts.