AN ANALYSIS OF CONTEMPORARY NOTIONS IN LEADERSHIP AMONG EMERGING PASIFIKA DANCERS: A leadership study within the Hip-hop community across Aotearoa, New Zealand

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2024

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Leadership in dance environments is complex and varies depending on the unique context in which it is played out. Many scholars have written about leadership studies over recent years; however, authenticating the significance of dance leadership in a Pacific worldview is a valuable contribution I would like to make. Importantly, I use talanoa methodology and a manaakitanga approach to conduct an “interview” process to gather data authentically. Analyzing leadership from the lens of young emerging Hip-hop dancers will help illuminate the unique experiences that Pasifika partake in within the industry. I argue the significance of dance leadership, which focuses on a servant-led, authentic leadership approach that aligns with and engages in Pacific values. I engage with dancers across Wellington and Auckland as participants were primarily based in those cities. I included five participants in this study, referred to as “The Five,” all of whom are young Pacific Islanders working within the industry. The data collection process of this study took place during April 2023, and the months following involved transcribing dialogue pulled from each talanoa for analysis. Participants showed interest in being part of this study, and those who responded were confirmed as ideal research participants. Contributing to the lack of knowledge around leadership, specifically within the Pacific diaspora of New Zealand, will directly benefit the communities involved. This work adds to the scholarship of both dance and leadership studies with a focus on young emerging performers, for which I purposefully unpack notions of leadership, pulled directly and in conversation with these dancers. I intend to uplift Pacific youth and empower them to be leaders in dance. I engage in the powerful process of talanoa with five participants of Pasifika descent, emerging as professional dancers at the time of this study. I employ the talanoa methodology, which is simply defined as an exchange or transfer of knowledge, elaborated on further in the body of this work. I facilitate talanoa with an openness to learn what the participants share with me and further analyze this discourse. All of this is practiced through the principles of manaakitanga, a Māori concept that caters to the support and care of people. Manaakitanga is practiced among Māori and is similar to other practices or decorum known across the Pacific. Leadership studies specifically focused on young, emerging Pasifika dancers within the Hip-hop community will shed light on common themes related to identity, upbringing, and socioeconomic factors that play a significant part in navigating these spaces. I adhere to the study of dance leadership, understanding what leadership looks like from a uniquely Pasifika viewpoint and expressed through an indigenous lens of knowing and seeing beyond a Western paradigm. I propose the analysis of leadership to be undertaken through direct talanoa with participants and for the unpacking of the interview-based process to highlight the findings within this community to which they belong.

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Indigenous studies, Community, Hip-hop, Identity, Leadership, Manaakitanga,

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135 pages

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