VIDEO:   Carl Suurmond.   STORY:   Jess Jones

“WONDERFULLY  evocative” were Prince Edward’s words, after he saw a show he requested from Whitireia students.

“It was a wonderfully evocative few minutes,” said the Prince of the multi-cultural show, which was specially held at the Whitireia Performing Arts Centre for his four-day New Zealand visit.

After the prince spoke to the performers, second-year student Dawn Bregmen confided that he loved her dance solo in the performance.

“He said I looked very beautiful, which was very nice of him to say,” she said. “It made me feel special being singled out.”

John-Matai Ferguson, a third year student, said the Prince liked the contrast in the performances.

“He said he was really shocked at how people could switch like that between the different cultures,” he said.

The show was a combination of Maori, Samoan and Cook Islands acts, with an added contemporary element driven by Whitirieia tutor Tanemahuta Gray.

“It was trying to combine kapa haka with contemporary dance and seeing if we could take from those two forms and find its own kind of form,” said Mr Gray.

At the end of the performance, Prince Edward received a bone carving in a matai case from the school. The gift was carved by visual arts tutor Owen Mapp.

Prince Edward thanked everybody for the “fantastic performance…I wish you the best of luck for the new adventure and vision you have.”

Whitireia chief executive Don Campbell, who introduced the show, said the performing arts school is about leading and illuminating the community: “Today is a manifestation of our success.”

Programme leader Pip Byrne said she was very proud of everyone involved.

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