VOU Wins Prestigious UK Award
VOU performing ‘Are We Stronger than Winston’.
VOU was announced the 2016 winner of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Sustainable Practice Award for their production ‘Are We Stronger Than Winston?’ at the Awards ceremony on Friday night in Edinburgh in Scotland.
“These awards are a hugely important part of the Festival and aim to reward shows which take responsibility for their environmental, economic, and social impacts and think big about how the arts can help to grow a sustainable world,” a press release from Vou said.
Sachiko Soro, VOU director, said: “There are over 3000 shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, so to be shortlisted and then to win this Award is a huge honour for VOU and for Fiji. We believed it was important to tell the world about the devastating impacts of climate change on Fiji but also demonstrate the resilience of Fijians.”
“Are We Stronger Than Winston?” was the first Fijian production at the Festival and was choreographed by up and coming VOU choreographer Navi Fong who used the medium of dance to describe the impacts of Cyclone Winston on Fiji.
VOU convinced the judges “…with their direct approach to the theme of sustainability in its form of human adaptation to a changing environment, as well as their excellent and moving performance”.
VOU recently returned from a hugely successful two-month tour of Europe, starting with the iconic Glastonbury Festival in the UK. VOU then performed in Slovenia, Latvia, Lithuania, France and nine nights at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where they received four-star reviews and the show was sold out. The tour finished with a show in London for the Fiji High Commission and Tourism Fiji.
The audiences at the shows in Europe were intrigued and fascinated by the music and dance from Fiji and wanted to learn more about Fijian arts and culture and the story and thinking behind the dance.
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