Poignant Poi

A musical exploration of Kai Tahu heritage in the ChristChurch Cathedral was an inspired way to launch our 2010 Heritage Week.  Ariana Tikao is a singer I’ve heard a number of times and her voice and compositions never fail to thrill.  She was accompanied by two musicians from Emeralds and Greenstone (my favourite local group) and the renowned Richard Nunns, who played a variety of traditional Maori instruments (taoka puoro).  Despite an intriguing video backdrop and two dancers, I often needed to close my eyes to let the music flow through me.  At one point I opened my eyes to find the two dancers using poi which left a brilliant trail of lights.  I don’t know how they did it, but it was stunning.

Several of the speakers mentioned the poignancy of launching heritage week at a time when so much of our built heritage has been damaged or destroyed.  That poignancy is very strong as the tragic demolition of Manchester Courts has also commenced this week.

“Heritage has this special week
while outlook for the Courts is bleak.”