As you know from my tweets and instagrams, I had the great pleasure of spending last week on Rarotonga in the Cook Islands for the annual Pacific Islands Forum (PIF). For me, the highlight of the trip came Thursday evening when Cook Islands Prime Minister Henry Puna, his Cabinet, dozens of performers, Dr. McWaine, and I greeted Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the airport. It is always an honor for an Embassy to welcome a Secretary of State, but we were particularly delighted to receive a second visit in less than two years.

The Secretary and I weren’t the only Americans in town for the Forum. I welcomed the largest and highest-level U.S. delegation ever to attend the gathering in its 41-year history. I made the same statement at last year’s PIF in Auckland, but this year our presence was even more extensive. With the Secretary and me were the U.S. Ambassador to Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Tonga, Tuvalu, and the Pacific Islands Forum (Frankie Reed); U.S. Ambassador to Australia (Jeff Bleich); U.S. Ambassador to Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu (Teddy Taylor) …

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I just landed back in Wellington after a hectic week of ceremonies, official functions, speeches, and meetings in Apia in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the founding of Western Samoa, now known as the Independent State of Samoa. Before I turn my attention to the mountain of correspondence, memos, and other work that piled up on my desk while I was away, I thought I’d share a few more photos from Step Afrika!’s Samoa performances.

Stepping is a unique dance tradition created by African American university students. As explained on Step Afrika!’s website, stepping involves using the body as an instrument to create intricate rhythms and sounds through a combination of footsteps, claps, spoken word, and chants.

The tradition grew out of dance rituals practiced in the early 1900s by fraternities and sororities in historically African American schools to communicate affinity and allegiance to the group. The art form has grown rapidly in popularity and can now be widely found in primary and secondary schools, churches, and other community organizations as well as universities.

Founded in December 1994, Step Afrika! is the first professional step company in the world. The group is renown not only for its dynamic performances but for its work to promote stepping as an educational tool for young people worldwide. Step Afrika! reaches tens of thousands of Americans each year and has performed on many hundreds of stages in North & South America, Europe, Africa, the Caribbean, and now Samoa.

Step Afrika!’s first performance in Apia (at the National University of Samoa) was a major challenge. The airline lost the group’s baggage containing their costumes, equipment, and musical instruments. The steppers had only the clothes on their backs, literally, when they drove into town from Faleolo Airport. Rather than disappoint, however, the group scoured the markets of Apia en route to the venue and purchased clothes and basic props for the show.

The audience of more than 200 students waiting in NUS’s ornate fale, though, didn’t seem to notice any problem. They swayed, clapped, cheered, and at times joined in the stepping. As is   Step Afrika!’s custom, the group followed the show with a collaborative workshop with local Samoan artists.

The next day – still without any luggage –  the group drove over the mountain to the southern shore of Upolu to perform and hold workshops in Sataoa and Poutasi villages. Again the shows were dynamic, engaging, collaborative, and well-attended. The steppers thoroughly enjoyed the enthusiasm of the audiences and the beauty of the mountain drive, the beaches, and the sea.

That evening Step Afrika! had the special treat of performing at the annual beauty pageant sponsored by the Samoa Fa’afafine Association. Considered in certain island cultures to be the third gender, fa’afafine occupy a respected position in Samoan society. … And they throw a great party. Held in a sports arena, the pageant drew an exuberant crowd of about 6,000 people. Step Afrika! performed halfway through the show and brought much of the audience to its feet.

Over the next few days the group performed and conducted workshops in several other villages including a wonderful show that Dr McWaine and I attended in Moataa. More than 250 people packed the church hall, and dozens more watched from the parking lot and nearby trees.

Step Afrika! raised the roof for two hours, after which the local Moataa performance group shared traditional Samoan songs and dances. It was an absolutely wonderful evening filled with warmth, respect, music, and goodwill. The steppers and village youth were still talking, laughing, and sharing moves when we left close on midnight.

On June 1st, although they already had a very full schedule, the steppers generously marched with my Embassy and Peace Corps colleagues in the official Independence Day parade. Dr McWaine, Congressman Faleomavaega of American Samoa, and I stepped down off the reviewing stand to join the American contingent.

We were all decked out in our new Embassy elei (aloha) uniforms, marching behind a banner carried by my Chargé’s two young sons. When we reached the central dais, Step Afrika! performed a step salute to Samoa’s Head of State, His Highness Tui Atua Tupua Tamasese, who responded with a broad smile and generous applause.

Step Afrika! performed several other times at official events, including in a float parade along the waterfront and concerts on the main stage in front of the Government Building. One of the shows drew more than 1,500 people.

Another performance during an evening-long national variety show of Samoan and American Samoan acts drew a crowd of more than ten thousand, including many young people perched in trees, on car roofs, and atop light poles. Despite intermittent rain, the large crowd clapped, swayed, and cheered with the performers, including Step Afrika!  It was an electric night, and Dr McWaine and I had a great time.

The men and women of Step Afrika! represented the People of the United States in superb fashion throughout Independence week in Samoa. Wherever they went they lit up the room (or stage or street) with positive energy, delighted audiences with the universal language of rhythm and dance, and collaborated in ways that underscored just how much our different cultures share in common.

I’m delighted that these marvelous steppers were able to take time away from their busy performance schedule in the United States to join us in Samoa. They brought fun, laughter, and warmth with them, and they left many new friends and stronger relationships in their wake … as all good ambassadors should.

And, yes, their luggage did finally arrive.

On Saturday Dr McWaine and I had the great pleasure of flying up to Base Ohakea with the Governor General, Lady Mateparae, Secretary of Defence and Mrs McKinnon, and others to attend the annual Ohakea Air Show. I’ve always been curious about air shows but never before had the opportunity to see one. Based on Saturday’s experience, I fully expect to be a regular attendee in the future. I thoroughly enjoyed climbing around the various aircraft, talking to pilots and engineers, and watching the extraordinary aerobatics.

This year marks the 75^th anniversary of the founding of the Royal New Zealand Air Force. The event at Ohakea was part of the year-long celebration of that significant milestone. Many dozens of airplanes and helicopters participated, including aircraft from the United States, Australia, and France. Four-star General Gary North, US Pacific Air Force Commander, led the American presence which included US Air Force C-17s from Hawaii and Alaska and US Marine Corps C-130s from Okinawa.

Prior to the show General North and our planes participated in Kiwi Flag, a joint exercise that included tactical air control patrols over the North and South Islands, air drops around the Auckland area (similar to the RNZAF air drop in December to assist a stricken Russian fishing vessel), and combined parachute jumps. Practicing such maneuvers fosters interoperability, increases the skills and expertise of everyone involved, and constitutes an important part of the two nations’ humanitarian and disaster preparedness efforts.

I spent a bit of time with General North discussing the exercises, what to see while he is on the South Island for the upcoming Warbirds over Wanaka air show, and the various trials and tribulations of living in a hardship post like Honolulu. I then gave Dr McWaine a tour of one of our C-17s, showed him where I sat on my flights to and from Antarctica, and talked for a while with the crew.

We then inspected the beautiful new Boeing 777 that Air New Zealand brought to the show, and walked across the runway to meet with my new friends from Hawker Beechcraft. Based in Wichita, Kansas, Hawker Beechcraft produces the world-class T-6 Texan pilot trainer aircraft. I chatted with the HB engineers and pilots, climbed into the plane for a closer look at the instruments and ejector seat, and watched several World War II-era Texans (known as Harvards in the RAF) do aerobatics.

We mingled for an hour or so through the large crowd of attendees (estimated at more than 50,000 people) and bumped into a group of AmeriCarna friends who had driven down from New Plymouth. Dr McWaine seemed particularly struck by the precision flying events, and I was pleasantly surprised to see helicopters inexplicably drop automobiles from several hundred feet up in the air.

All in all, it was a great day at Ohakea. I’ll certainly be back next year. If you have an interest in aviation and don’t want to wait, Warbirds over Wanaka will be running all Easter weekend. I also heard a rumor that Air New Zealand plans to fly one of its 777s into Wellington next Sunday.

This week marks the New Zealand debut of one of America’s finest artists. Ethan Stiefel is a superstar of ballet with stellar career credits at the American Ballet Theater, the New York City Ballet, and principal ballet companies in Zurich, London, Russia, Australia, Munich, Hamburg, and Canada.

He has toured the world, starred in two films (Center Stage and its sequel), appeared on TV (including on a reality show here in New Zealand), and taught in the United States and overseas. In 1999 he was honored with the Statue Award of the Princess Grace Foundation by the Crown Prince of Monaco. It doesn’t get much better than that.

And to top it all off, Ethan is a cool guy. Fun, funny, down-to-earth, and without pretense. When we’ve been to dinner together, he has ordered beer. And eaten like a horse. As far as humanly possible for a worldclass performing artist with zero body fat and an exercise routine that would kill a cheetah, he’s a regular bloke.

So I was delighted when he took over as the Artistic Director of the Royal New Zealand Ballet last September – the first time an American has been at the creative helm of that Kiwi bastion of high culture.

He was welcomed on his first day in a traditional Maori whakatau ceremony where he was handed over by his American whanau to his new Kiwi whanau. I was out of the country on business at the time, so Dr McWaine and my colleague Caroline did the honors and escorted Ethan into his new home, making him part of the RNZB family. There were songs and speeches plus Ethan’s first haka, performed by the dancers he would be leading.  It was a moving start for both Ethan and the company.

Since their arrival in September, Dr McWaine and I have had the pleasure of spending a good bit of time with Ethan and his extraordinarily talented fiancée Gillian Murphy, who is dancing with the RNZB as a special guest star this year. We are very much enjoying having them both here in New Zealand.

At a dinner in their honor at the Residence recently, we talked about NYC: Three Short Ballets from the Big Apple. The launch of Ethan’s first season as RNZB Atistic Director, NYC opened in Auckland on February 29^th with the proud support of the US Embassy. A diverse collection of pieces, NYC comprises works from two of New York’s hottest young choreographers, Benjamin Millepied (of Black Swan fame) and Larry Keigwin (who created a new piece specifically for NYC), as well as a classic piece by George Balanchine set to Gershwin music.

Various artists associated with the three ballets visited New Zealand over the last few weeks to work with Ethan and the dancers. While they were here, those visiting artists also held master classes for promising young Kiwi dancers. Several of my colleagues had the opportunity to watch the classes, and they were star-struck to see Ethan, Larry Keigwin, Amanda McKerrow, and John Gardner in action.  It’s clear that the lucky students got even more out of the experience.

NYC opened earlier this week to a full house in Auckland and has received rave reviews. Knowing Ethan, anything less would have surprised me. His is a special talent, and he has spent his life working with grace and great skill under pressure. He always amazes, and his first RNZB production is no exception.

This is the RNZB’s first all-American season, and I think launching with a New York theme is brilliant. The City is vibrant, exciting, glamorous, and full of contrasts. An eclectic blend of old and new, classic and contemporary. With a special, organic energy all its own that has to be experienced to be believed and understood. NYC‘s series of ballets reflects the zen of the City perfectly.

My Auckland Consul General Randy Berry attended opening night with his spouse Pravesh Singh, and they raved about the program. Among the various high points, they were especially taken by Larry Keigwin’s new commission Final Dress. Randy tells me he has never seen anything quite like it before.

Congratulations to Ethan and the dancers on a brilliant start to 2012. I can’t wait to see the performances in Wellington, and I urge you to attend as well in whatever city works best for you. For information about performances, please check the Royal Ballet’s website.

If you see Ethan and/or Gillian in the theater, on the street, or eating Mexican food with Dr McWaine and me at one of our favorite haunts, please be sure to say hello. I’d like Ethan and Gillian to feel as welcome here in Aotearoa as Dr McWaine and I have, and I know they will.