Dancers revel in chance to share culture

The Te Kuraroa Kapa Haka Maori Dance Group will take over the Graham Bricknell Music Shell on March 1 for the annual Bunbury Multicultural Group’s Night Under the Stars.

The dance group has only been together six months, but they intend to put on a fierce show to celebrate Bunbury’s cultural diversity, including the New Zealand traditional ancestral war cry, the Haka.

“We intend to represent Bunbury hard and proud, ” group organiser Jason Graham said.

Te Kuraroa performed for the first time at the Bunbury Trotting Club last week, with members taking every chance they can get to practise for the Australian National Kapa Haka dance championships in Sydney in March.

Mr Graham said the group felt dance and performing was a way to share their culture and keep their children connected to it.

“We’re so far away from home, we’ve got to hold on to something, ” he said.

The Act-Belong-Commit Multicultural Night Under the Stars is in its eighth year and will include performances by Chinese Lion Dancers and Scottish West Coast Highland dancers.

Event organiser Shamara Williams said the event had become so popular she now had stallholders and performers contacting her asking to participate.

“The festival is truly a community event delivered by the community for the community, ” she said.

“Bunbury is home to people from many different cultural backgrounds and this year we have some new groups eager to participate, such as Sri Lankans and Bangladeshi.”

In 2013 the free event attracted more than 3000 people, with numbers expected to increase again this year.