Atali'i O Le Crezent
(Sons of the Crezent)

With gentrification on the rise, these boys from South Auckland put together a dance theatre performance to pay homage to their fondest neighborhood memories as well as the streets that birthed their identities.

South Auckland is commonly referred to as the unofficial capital of the South Pacific. With a large Pacific Island community dating back to the post-war workers migrations, its streets inhabit the culturally hybrid world of Pacific Island/New Zealanders (who like their global diasporic counterparts, have synthesized their ancient ways of life with the foreign maze that is the Western world).

Although South Auckland is synonymous with its Pacific Island community, recent gentrification in the area has spelt the writing on the wall for many who fear the loss of their homes and the communities that make them.

Villa Junior Lemanu is a Samoan artist from Wymondley, Otara, who expresses his ideas on the situation via his dance piece: ATALII O LE CREZENT (Sons of the CREZENT).

- Jesse Gibson