On Sunday, Kiwi choreographer and creative director Parris Goebel, more famously known as Parri$, popped up on the New Zealand Pavilion’s official Twitter feed to tease her fans and Expo 2020 Dubai visitors. The short video message shows Goebel talking about the entertainment and cultural programme at the pavilion, which will be unveiled “within the next couple of weeks”.
Back in 2019, the star dancer presented her curated events calendar for the upcoming World Expo, soon to kick off in a month’s time on October 1, 2021, in Auckland, New Zealand. Her audience, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, commended Goebel on her plans and said that the programme was going to be spectacular.
Founder of the three-time World Hip-Hop Championship dance group The Royal Family, the South Auckland-born choreographer became a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) in 2020 for services to dance. She closed her Twitter video on Expo saying, “I’m always proud to be a New Zealander”.
In other news, last month, The Royal Family and New Zealand five-piece band Six60 were also announced as part of Expo 2020’s entertainment line-up, as the fair promises ‘no two days will be the same’.
Though Goebel’s stellar portfolio extends from American singers Janet Jackson, Rihanna and Ariana Grande to K-Pop stars CL and PSY, her programme this time round is focused on young Kiwi talents. In a clip titled ‘Voice of Youth Auditions 2020’ on her official Facebook, Goebel addressed young singers living in New Zealand aged 16 to 18 to sign up for a chance to “fly to Dubai and perform at Expo 2020”.
The six-month calendar will take advantage of Expo’s 438-hectare site as well as the country pavilion to stage exhilarating performances for 182 days.
- The writer is an intern with Gulf News.
