about

OUR MISSION

Providing platforms for South Auckland creatives and the wider Auckland community to unlock their artistic and expressive potential through the medium of dance.

OUR VISION

To entertain, inform, inspire, and empower people through movement and storytelling.

NAPPYBOYZ IN A NUTSHELL: KEY CONCEPTS

NU’U | COMMUNITY

Nappyboyz aims to positively contribute to our South Auckland community by providing a safe, positive & inclusive space for our creative rangatahi through dance. We aim to paint South Aucklanders in a more positive light.

‘AIGA | FAMILY

Our kaupapa is centered around family by respecting the vā (relationships) between people--both in dance and in the everyday.

TUPUTUPU | GROWTH

We aim to create platforms & opportunities to unlock the potential in every person. By acknowledging who we are and where we come from, we pay respect to the people who have contributed to our growth through all creative processes and pre-performance rituals.

TAUTUA | SERVICE

We are a collective of artists that are passionate about using our skills to serve our people. We want to give back to the community by providing opportunities for the next generation of dancers.

NAPPYBOYZ PHILOSOPHY

NappyBoyz is a dance collective based in South Auckland. Our main focus is to provide platforms for local Pasifika/Māori creatives to use dance and art as a vessel to translate narratives of our experiences as South Aucklanders, as Mana Moana, and as street dance practitioners.

As an Indigenous-Pasifika-led collective, we value the arts as a necessary and hereditary means of storytelling. NappyBoyz recognizes that South Auckland is often associated with high levels of socioeconomic deprivation and lower-than-average educational, economical, and health outcomes (Joynt et al., 2016).

The dominant societal discourse describes it as a place to avoid if possible. Through our craft, we actively aim to reduce this stigma around our community.

Our performances include elements of street and contemporary dance, with a fusion of our own cultural influences. Political and social issues from personal experiences as Mana Moana are used as a reference point for our concepts. This is coupled with other artistic elements such as video, fashion, photography, and graphic design, honing in on the importance of individuality and self expression.

We want to provide stimulating creative processes centered around whānau and transformative performance opportunities that produce confident, hard-working, and passionate dancers. In return, we aim to foster potential and encourage youth to pursue dance as a career -- turning fresh young South Aucklanders into the movers and thinkers of tomorrow's dance industry. The ultimate goal is to put South Auckland on the map in a positive light and to change society’s perspective of our youth and community through dance.