This performance is a ritual of healing for all that was lost in the 2009 tsunami in Samoa. It portrays a map of grief; how a person can get lost of in the wilderness of sorrow and a message of hope that there is a way back to the love of family. Jandals Inc, a company of Whitireia graduates delivers, performances that are heartfelt and moving.

Director Sasha Gibb and choreographer Taofi Mose-Tuiloma have created, with their ensemble, a work that has great rhythm and strong dramaturgy. It draws us in and keeps us guessing as they develop their own unique way of telling a story.  

A movement vocabulary well suited to the abilities of the cast has been found and this dance component is delivered with strength and well-grounded ease.  There is elegant use of concurrent scenes to develop the texture of the story and evoke the life of a family and village. This leads to a satisfying juxtaposition of images. The impact of the tsunami plays out in the human psyche and tremors continue long after the event has passed.

Lameka Nehemia and Te Rau Oriwa Mitchell are very fine in the central roles. Lameka has a tender and eloquent stage presence which allows us to fully connect with her plight and distress. Her monologue delivered in Samoan (despite my not understanding its full meaning) was moving; her beautiful imploring face tilted to the light.

Alternating between the spoken word, dance and mime is an ambitious stretch for the leads. Their performances would be strengthened by the continued development of their acting skills for the delivery of text. 

There is some elegant partnering and the chorus of four women move with control, the torque of the body expressing pent up energy and the shift of the ocean before they explode into dynamic sequences that unleash the power of these elemental forces – this is satisfying. A potent scene arrives when Te Rau Oriwa Mitchell delivers a monologue with another dancer interpreting his words in a dance solo full of invention and clarity.

Attention needs to be paid to the mime segments, either achieve greater clarity and skill or find a more inventive stylized way to evoke the tasks of the domestic realm. Whilst there has been care and consideration given to the sound track, some of the tracks spell out the emotion of the scene too much – it would be interesting to lose the track and find something less literal to accompany the movement once the mood and emotion has been found. Finding a less clumsy way for tracks to fade out is also important and the projection had an unclear purpose.

More could be made of the ending as the work came to a sudden conclusion,; as if there is another scene not yet realized.

Impact should be toured to high schools around the country and to communities affected by the tsunami, both here and in Samoa; it would be well received and could open up lively discussion.

It is refreshing to see such honest work with meaningful content coming from this group of artists as they work to fulfil their stated mission – to create, develop, produce, support and present artistic work that is relevant and culturally significant to Pacific Island people in New Zealand.

Their next project is to present a Pacific Island Festival of performance.

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