Malaga—The Journey: The Performing Arts as Motivational Tool for Pasifika Students in Aotearoa New Zealand

Abstract

In 2009, the musical work Malaga: The Journey, based on the journeys of Pacific peoples to Aotearoa New Zealand, was staged in the city of Porirua. Involving a large group of predominantly Pasifika students from three local secondary schools, the aim of the project was to encourage and motivate students to achieve better educational outcomes, and affirm positive notions of Pacific identities. Using these objectives as a starting point, this article presents a personal observational ethnography of the two weeks leading up to the shows, highlighting how these themes were incorporated into the rehearsal space and reflected in the work itself. Ending with anecdotes from those most closely involved in bringing Malaga to the stage, it suggests not only that the show was successful but also adds to discourses around the value of performing arts and culture in wider educational contexts.

Keywords:

• New Zealand
• Pacific
• Diaspora
• Identity
• Ethnography

Notes

1. Although the word Pacific is a general term, covering a vast diversity of peoples and cultures, it, and terms that have similar connotations, like Pasifika, are used throughout this article as these terms were used throughout the Malaga project to create a sense of unity, common experience and community among the students. It is on this understanding that the terms are used, as opposed to attempting to define them otherwise, for which there is no room here.

2. Available from http://stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/people_and_communities/pacific_peoples.aspx.

3. Pacific being parenthesised as at the time I was unaware of exactly which Pacific Islands the families and church groups belonged.

4. Only Turangawaewae, a large-scale 1990 bicultural celebration that involved all local primary and intermediate schools, and in which I took part, was the only comparable event. In terms of solely Pasifika events, Malaga is without precedent.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jared Mackley-Crump

Jared Mackley-Crump is a PhD candidate at the University of Otago and is looking at the history and development of Pacific festivals in New Zealand, and issues of music and identity in performance