Thursday 10/17: Opening Ceremony

Location: NYPL for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center
40 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023
(entrance at 111 Amsterdam between 64th and 65th) 

Time: 5:30 pm – 9:30 pm

Cost: Free

Kick-off PIFF 2024 with our Opening Ceremony, A Celebration of Dances From the Pacific Islands, hosted by The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. The event is free to attend and is open to the public. The evening will feature a screening of two short films, Vakaraitaka and Pō’ele Wai, Textile and Augmented Reality exhibitions, along with a live performance by Dancers Unlimited principal dancer Keala Fung and a panel discussion about the importance of art in the Indigenous environmental activist space. 

About the films:

• As a four-part cinematic poem, Vakaraitaka combines the landscape of Fiji, the contemporary style of the traditional Fijian dance meke and language, and the linkage between the body, the water, and the land. In this film, the majestic costume design by Fashion Designer Epeli Tuibeqa seamlessly flows between the traditional and contemporary patterns and textiles of Fiji.
• Pō’ele Wai is a narrative short film that combines magical realism, dark fantasy and horror within a classical narrative to tell a visceral story of the effects of poisoning in a poetic homage to sacred waters. In this film, Tiare brings the future to us with an immersive Augmented Reality experience.