The Tā-Vā of Home and Uni: Pacific Dance Students’ Experiences of Rhythms During Covid-19 in Aotearoa New Zealand

Abstract

This thesis explores how tā-vā (tempo-spatial dimensions) orient Pacific students’ lives by shaping meaningful social experiences and constructing conceptualisations of rhythm in relationships. While tā-vā is not commonly spoken about, the embodied and qualitative experience of tā-vā enriches their learning and homelife, connecting them to people, places, and spiritual realms through relational rhythms. Of note, maintaining this rhythmic synchrony enables participation in socially animated learning environments, particularly within tangible face-to-face taskwork that requires knowledge co-construction. This thesis identifies how tā-vā and rhythm can be challenged within formal education systems, and lead to relational disruptions that were further exacerbated by online learning during Covid-19 lockdowns. With a focus on tertiary dance education in Aotearoa New Zealand, this thesis examines how Pacific students continued to navigate the challenges of Eurocentric conceptualisations of time and space and attempt to rhythmically sustain tā-vā in their learning. Focusing on learners’ perspectives, this thesis explores the research question: How does the experience of tā-vā for Pacific tertiary dance students enrich learning, and how is this experience disrupted by formal education, specifically during Covid-19 in Aotearoa New Zealand? Through qualitative, post-positivist research, I engaged in talanoa with 12 Pacific students of tertiary dance programmes, to understand how they experienced tā-vā at home and in higher dance education prior to and during Covid-19. As a dimension of talanoa that emphasises the significance of tā-vā within dialogue and data collection, I propose ‘talanoa-tā-vā’ as an innovative research approach that appreciates the rhythms manifesting in specific time-scapes and space-scapes. Talanoa-tā-vā was later applied during analysis, along with an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) and thematic approach, to observe how conversational rhythms informed the storytelling and our research relationship. Initial discussions of vā with kāinga/research participants revealed the complex ways that they value tā-vā, and how these manifested in multi-faceted rhythmic connections: with themselves, dance content, peers, educators, families, and spirituality. The disruptions to formal-learning during Covid-19 further emphasised the significance of these rhythms in their lives. Their reflections illustrate the pervasiveness of tā-vā in dance education, and how unique cultural perspectives of time-space-rhythm can influence student engagement and inclusion.