At the heart of VOU Fiji Dance’s new work, Are We Stronger Than Winston?, is the story of a cyclone, and the consequences of its destructive force on the lives of the Fijian people. Winston was the strongest tropical cyclone ever to have been seen on land in Fiji, with winds of up to 190 miles per hour being recorded. The devastation it dealt to the islands was immense. Are We Stronger Than Winston, relates both the Fijians’ grief but also their resilience, in the face of such horrific consequences of climate change on their way of life.
Navi Fong’s choreography, influenced by traditional Fijian dance, is very physical and direct. It is as if Fong is weaving these very recent events into the very woof and warp of Fijian folklore. Sometimes the dance appears to be ritualistic and trance-like, as if the dancers are accessing something collective, at others it becomes very personal and solitary, almost uncomfortably so.
The dancers have a very powerful energy and give their full commitment to this intense work. However, despite this, the structure of the work isn’t quite robust enough to deliver the punch that is locked into its material. There are many, very strong choreographic ideas here, but they aren’t elaborated fully enough, and it is really the narrative and the dancer’s dynamism that carry the piece along.
Furthermore, the sequence that the dancers begin with, which takes place in blackout, illuminated only by the ambient light of the space and that from a torch, doesn’t quite come off in Greenside’s Emerald Theatre. There isn’t nearly enough contrast between the relatively high ambient light of the hall, and the relatively low light of the torch, and the result is somewhat faint rather than distinct.
However, even given these criticisms, one cannot help but be affected by this work. The dancers are superb, the storytelling compelling, and its important message loud and clear.