teuila postcards

Teuila Postcards
A Polytoxic Dance Company Production

Efeso Fa'anana
Leah Shelton
Lisa Fa'alafi

Teuila Postcards is a tongue in cheek look at the oppression and evolution of an island. It’s a remarkable fusion of traditional Polynesian and contemporary dance theatre. Set in Samoa, Teuila Postcards tells the story of three tourists who travel to a fantasy island expecting an exotic holiday but instead get a lesson in history, culture and movement. Brisbane based dance ensemble Polytoxic Dance Company unveil the cultural reality of Polynesia with an episodic ride of postcard-like vignettes. Mix in bright gorgeous costumes and frame each image with a clever, ever-changing set, and you have Polytoxic's holiday postcard to you from Samoa.

*image and synopsis from Teuila Postcards


As part of Planet IndigeUS at Harbourfront Centre, I went to see the Teuila Postcards. Despite the ten extra minutes of waiting due to technical difficulties, it was definitely worth the wait. The show was amazing. It was intriguing to learn about Fa'afafine, a third gender Samoan culture encourages. They are biologically men who were raised to assume female gender roles and because of their unique nature, they are prominent in numerous fields of work in the Samoan society. In Korea, often sons were much favoured than daughters. The gender of the child is not a huge concern nowadays, but seeing Samoan culture's Fa'afafine, I guess having daughters were more of an issue, if you have to raise a boy as a girl. lol. It is an interesting subject. They are not necessarily homosexual, but has both male and female characteristics, thus can become a huge advantage in many aspects. During the performance, Efeso (Fa'afafine role) mentions he went to college with football scholarship, but appears as a drag queen on stage. It is difficult to understand at first, but always fascinating to learn about a different cultures. Plus, the mix of Samoan and contemporary dances made it so much more exciting.