Te Whaea was pumping last night with a full house, long waiting list and palpable excitement in the crowd – they get my vote for best audience of the Fringe. Legacy definitely have a following and most of the audience seemed to know somebody personally in the crew.

From what started out as a passion to excel and grow dancing in New Zealand, to being finalists at the 2006 World Hip Hop Dance Championships in Los Angeles out of 33 International teams within six months of being established, Legacy is a phenomenon.

Ben Uili, Haini Palu, Ezra Toma, Jonate Lealea, Richie Karati, Alesana Pereira, Pat Godinet, Yashua Lesa-Amataga, Manu Ngatai, Corey Solomona, Tony Allen, Adam Avei and Ray Leota, magnificent dancers all, take the stage with gusto and we’re off for a non-stop evening of slick moves, humour, fun and excellent team dancing these guys are hot!

Video flashing, lights (that guy Rob Larsen doing his magic stuff yet again, he’s everywhere) music pumping.  What impresses first off is the marriage of sound editing and movement – it’s so tight. Papali’itele Liston Peilua must get a mention for this as well as for producing the show. The shifts and cuts in the music are swift and each bit of choreography matches brilliantly.  

Nothing lasts for more than 40 seconds before another section blasts in. There’s so much power in a group of men moving with strength and unison on stage – throughout the hour long show they dance their hearts out in a wide range of hip hop dancing. They incorporate a unique and energetic approach to the traditional krumping, break dancing, popping, locking and urban street styles of hip hop dance.

The second item begins with team members talking about their roots in Fiji, Tonga, Rarotonga and Samoa and the reasons their families came to New Zealand and the benefits for them personally from that migration – compelling and touching snippets of stories.

This leads into a section where traditional dance forms such as haka and sasa are blended into hip hop moves: a unique fusion. The dancers in black tights and lava lavas pull this off with immaculate timing and relish.

Next up characters appear and there is chance to fool around and everybody gets a solo (forgive me if I don’t get the lingo right – the hip hop world is new for me). The shadow of Michael Jackson makes an appearance and this signals a section of slower numbers where the guys can really express the feeling of the music. Slow hip hop – moving with feeling – I like this stuff, the power of men dancing their own style.

A section with clever use of video and retrograde movement is more thematic with a young man thinking about the choices he is making; urban gangs feature here; this is great content for younger audiences.

They revisit their winning number from the World Hip hop champs to spine tingling effect then wrap up the evening with some damn fine group work to old disco standards as the mirror ball spins.

I am amazed at the logistics of rehearsing this large group to such a high standard with members holding down jobs and studying etc. They must work incredibly hard.

The joy and commitment in their dance is utterly infectious and I can see why they are pulling in the punters.

As they say, "Legacy strives to provide aspiring hip hop dancers with the knowledge to preserve and continuously lay the foundation for generations to come – this is the Legacy". Long may they continue.

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