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Teaching
and promoting the fire-knife dance, Samoa
Who's
involved:
Project leader: Lene Leota & Clare
Leota
Main partner: Ailao
Club
Other organisations:
- Churches,
- Schools and matai (chiefs) in the villages where
the workshops will be held
Timeframe:
September 2006 - January 2007
Theme:
Life and love in islands
Background:
The Ailao Club was formed in January 2002 by Lene
Leota of Siva Afi Designs. Its purpose is to promote
the art of Samoan Fire Dancing and to support
the development of young fire knife dancers living
in Samoa. There is no cost to be part of the club
and the club raises money to send teams to fire-knife
competitions in American Samoa and the US where
they have won many awards in recent years. The
club has also gained a reputation for working
with underprivileged children and developing the
pride and self-esteem through knowledge of the
Samoan performing arts. In past years the club
has done workshops in villages in Upolu and Savai'i
where many young people have not been exposed
for this traditional performing art. They do a
workshop during the day and learn about the history
of the fire-knife dance and then do a performance
for the village at night. This is also a good
opportunity for young people from Apia to form
friendships with young people living in rural
villages as the villages welcome the club members
with traditional ceremonies. The club would like
to organize a new series of workshops in the outer
island of Savai'i.
Objectives:
- to conduct fire-knife workshops in 4 villages
in Savai'i with a performance for the village
at the end of the workshop
- to have at least 200 young people in total take
part in the workshops
- to encourage friendships and increased understanding
between youth from the city and youth from the
villages
- to encourage the future development of talented
young people who take part in the workshop by
inviting them to join the Ailao Club and covering
the costs of their travel to Apia to train with
the rest of the club and to competitions (costs
to be covered by Club and sponsors)
Activities:
- Collaborate with village councils, schools and
churches to implement the activities;
- Plan, organize
and hold 4 fire-knife dance workshops for a total
of 200 youth in 4 villages in Savai'i with the
young members of the Ailao Club taking the lead
in running the workshops;
- Plan, organize
and hold a performance featuring the workshop
participants in each village;
- Prepare
and print information materials for distribution
during each workshop;
- Publicise
all the activities through local radio, television
and newspapers;
- Evaluate
the impact of the activity by asking a minimum
of 60 youth to complete a survey on their knowledge
of the fire-knife dance before and after the workshops;
analyse and report on the results of the evaluation;
- Investigate
and report on ways of continuing this activity
in the future.
Progress
Reports:
5 October 2006
As part of the intersectoral Youth Visioning for
Island Living programme, UNESCO contributed $3,000
to the Aliao Club in Samoa to conduct traditional
fire-knife dance workshops in four villages in
the Samoan island of Savaii. Representatives of
the UNESCO Office Apia presented a symbolic check
to the director of the project, Lene Leota, at
a ceremony held last Tuesday 3 October at the
Aliao Club, Apia. At least 200 young people will
take part in the workshops, which aim to encourage
friendship and increased understanding between
youth from the city and youth from rural villages.
- Laura Berdejo,
UNESCOMMUNICATION
Downloads:
Final Report [PDF 369 Kb]
Project
Proposal
For more information:
Contact : Lene Leota &
Clare Leota - sivaafi@ipasifika.net
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