ASB Polyfest 2022 shines online

Unitec is proud to have sponsored the Unitec diversity stage at ASB Polyfest for the fourth year, following three years of disruption. Celebrating diversity and the coming together of cultures is so important and Unitec are privileged to be a part of giving rangatahi the opportunity to shine a light on their talent, hard work and cultures.

This year’s theme of ‘Family/whānau’ is particularly close to our heart and is a fitting reminder of all of the love and support our rangatahi receive from their whānau as they journey towards these hallowed stages of Polyfest, particularly all of the additional time given to educating them at home during the course of the pandemic. The theme also speaks to the wider families that each individual belongs to, which was on display through the unity all of the groups exhibited.

This wider whānau also includes all of the teachers and support staff who give their time to help choreograph and train the performers.

This year the event had a much more intimate atmosphere given the red light setting Aotearoa is currently placed in. This meant that in place of the usual throng of spectators, supporters and activation spaces, the whole event was designed to showcase the work and talent of the performers themselves. It was staged as an hybrid event that saw the rangatahi perform on their respective stages at the Manukau Sports Bowl to a virtual audience, via livestream.

Traditionally the live audience fueled the energy of the performances, but it was striking to see that all of the performances maintained the same level of energy as previous years, fueled by the hard work and pride in what they have accomplished in these uncertain times.

The Unitec Diversity Stage ran for two of the four days, with A’anoalii Rowena Fuluifaga, Learning and Achievement Manager, sitting on the judging panel for the stage and Paul Hays presenting the supreme award for the Unitec Diversity Stage winners. Blair Sorensen expertly MC’d the stage for the full two days, with all commenting on his perfect delivery and ability to draw the student speakers out and interact about themselves, their groups and their respective journey’s to these hallowed stages.

Those who joined to watched via the livestream were treated to performances from eleven different schools, including Avondale College who also were the Mana Kura of the Unitec Diversity Stage. These performances showcased Vietnamese, Filipino, Fijian, Hawaiian, Indian, Kiribati, Tahitian, Tuvaluan, African Fusion, Sri Lankan, Thai, Japanese, Korean and Chinese cultures.