KEY POINTS:
A Selwyn College Indian dance troupe jokes that this year's Polyfest should be called Bollyfest.
The 2007 ASB Polyfest, which starts today at the Manukau Sports Bowl, showcases the best of traditional Maori and Pacific Island dance and speechmaking. More than 8500 secondary students from 62 Auckland schools will take to one of six stages over the next four days.
But an increasing number of other cultures are also making their presence felt at the annual festival, among them Chinese Lion dancers, Korean fan dancers, Middle Eastern groups and the Indian dance troupe from Selwyn College in Kohimarama.
"It's a chance for us to be glamorous like [Bollywood actress] Aishwarya Rai and to be up there representing our culture," said 15-year-old Ruveena Kaur.
Of the 46 acts taking to the diversity stage today, 32 are Indian performances.
"It's a mix of traditional and contemporary Indian dance - we all love doing it and watch heaps of Bollywood movies every week," said Ruveena.
Meanwhile, in the leafy suburb of Epsom, the final touches were being added to Nga Kotiro o Maungawhau, the kapa haka group representing Epsom Girls Grammar School. The group, whose members include a Filipina and three girls with European ancestry, are one of eight cultural teams from the school, the largest number of entries from any school at the festival.
They were curious to see the varied range of performances and were excited other cultures were becoming more prominent at the Polyfest.
"It'll be awesome to see the Indian dancers, they dance differently but are beautiful," said Year 13 student Reremoana McLeod. "It's all part of the diversity and they're a part of this country too," she said.
The festival began in 1976 when just six cultural groups from four schools competed at Sir Edmund Hillary Collegiate.
The 2007 ASB Polyfest
* Where: Manukau Sports Bowl, Te Irirangi Drive, Manukau.
* Cost: Koha of $3.
* Starts: 9am today. Powhiri Open Invitation (No passes required).
* 12pm Diversity Stage Performances (on Cook Islands Stage).
* 12.30pm Samoan Stage Speech Competitions (Year 9 & Year 10).
* The event runs until Saturday.
