The BIG Performance

Saturday night was our big hula performance! The night was actually a fundraiser in Middleton for the high school there. Two years ago the school caught fire and the gym, band room, main offices and some classrooms were completely ruined. They existed no more. The newer part of the school was outfitted with a sprinkler system and this part was not. Anyway, this was their annual fundraiser. It was a Luau night. They sold somewhere between 300-500 tickets. The night before we had a dress rehearsal and had so much fun. We have such a great group of girls (12 all together) and it was really fun to see the keikis (kids) dance for the first time. They were all so excited.

Saturday we arrived so pumped and a little nervous. After all we have only been dancing for 4 months. We were prepared to dance 3 songs. It was so fun to see our costumes hanging up in the dressing room. It was fun to get all dressed up. It was fun just thinking that I was actually getting up on a stage in front of lots of people to perform. It was fun to see my family and extended family all excited. It was fun to share something so close to me for others.

The dances are great. The first one is called Sophisticated Hula. We had partners on this one. My partners name is Kristen. She is actually my dad's cousin and younger than me. They moved from California to Idaho about 1.5 years ago. We just love having them here. We were so worried that we would not get this dance down. It was the last one that we learned and for some reason with us together we could not get it. I think we worried our teachers as well. We performed and well, I might add. In this dance the flower in the hair is supposed to be on the left side if you are married and the right if you are not. Then the flower in the maili lay is just the opposite of the flower. For our matching purposes, everyone was married for the night. :) We look like we are just standing around. We actually started fine and then the music started playing over itself for some reason. So after about 3 start and stop attempts the music started fine and we finished. Nice way to start the show, huh.

My sister, Heidi in the middle of this group and her partner to the left in the picture.

My littlest sister, Mindy doin' her thing!

Our second dance is called Pua Olena. Olena is a yellow flower. Get it with our yellow outfits! This dress is literally glued to me. I just thought that it would go as I have nothing to hold it up. This dance is a slow love song type dance. I love the dance but not one of my favorites. So hard to continue smiling when the song is so slow. Jeff said that everytime he went to take a picture, we would turn. The one next to me is Tasha our teacher. Her mom is our other teacher. They have been family friends for 10+ years.

Little Sis, Mindy. She is just so cute. Heidi my other sister, was always front and center in this dance. She ended the dance all by herself on stage. Way to go Heidi! She did such a good job!

This song, I honestly can never remember the exact name. I loved these outfits! But it was another that needed to be glued to me. This song is fast and lively and so much fun to do. We are wearing Pua'a skirts and tops. We wear pua'a skirts when we practice too. Lots of fun this song is.

I just had to add this picture. It cracks me up. It makes me look like I am extremely exhausted and worn out. Makes me laugh. I promise I smiled the entire time. :)

I just love this dance.

I may have more pictures later. Kristen's husband Mike took pictures and recorded it. So he may have others. He wass taking pictures all over the place, so I would not doubt it. Our camera died on and off throughout the night. I swear that I charged it before we went.

Anyway, I feel so blessed and lucky to be able to do this. It has been incredibly fun for me to know that I will see both my sisters at least once a week. That I am able to learn something that carries on the traditions of my ancestors. And spend time with others that are also excited about doing this. I know that we have more performances and will be learning more dances, so stay tuned for more.