 "Photo: Cheri Peacock")
Visitors from across Utah packed the SUU Ballroom Friday night to experience the Pacific Island culture with the SUU Polynesian Club.
The concert shed light on the diversity of the Pacific Islands — Samoa, Tonga, Hawaii, Tahiti and New Zealand.
SUU Polynesian dancers wowed the audience with the Haka — a traditional Maori war dance — as they aggressively took control of the stage with vigorous stamping and shouting.
Children gathered near the front of the stage to mimic the dancers’ facial expressions while they danced the Haka.
Each dance, through its hand gestures and body movements, told a story about life on the islands.
In Polynesian culture, gender roles are distinguished in the dances as women performed gracefully and the men danced with ferocity.
Polynesian Club adviser Toa Tawa said about 60 SUU students were involved in either dancing, singing, playing music or advertising.
Tawa, a New Zealand native, said his culture gives him a foundation of home and rules of behavior and conduct.
“It provides me with a sense of belonging — it means family, it means love, it means sacrifice and unity,” he said.
The funds made from the Polynesian Club Concert will go toward SUU student scholarships, Tawa said.
TeAnu Tonga, a senior English major from Ogden, who is half Maori and half Tongan, said she wanted the audience members to walk away with a deeper understanding of the Polynesian people and the history of the Pacific Islands.
“My intent was to share that spirit of the islands and to share the love of our ancestors and their hope in us for future generations,” Tonga said. “To be able to share that with people is very humbling.”
Tonga was a major contributor to the concert, as she was one of the choreographers who created and rehearsed practices for 40 students.
“Culture is a spirit that brings people together and is not a material thing — it’s something that you have to feel in your heart,” she said.
Katie Ika, a sophomore chemistry major from Bountiful, said being able to share her Tongan heritage with people at SUU is enlightening.
“I feel like our school is deprived of diversity,” she said. “I love showing my culture and that’s why I love to dance.”
Ika said the Polynesian people “love hard and play hard.”
“We just love to love — the Polynesian culture is a loving culture,” Ika said. “Loving everything we do makes life so much better for us and more enjoyable.”
Ika said she didn’t expect there to be a full house, but was happy for the community’s support.
“We were so nervous tonight,” she said. “We’re so grateful for all the support that came out and for the people who traveled far away to be here.”
Ika said the dances portray the distinct gender roles in Polynesian culture.
“(The men) dance aggressively to show that they take care of their women and that you won’t ever see us without each other,” she said.
Herman Sword, a junior criminal justice major from American Samoa, said he wanted the crowd to take pride in their identity and their roots.
“We wanted the crowd to realize how much they should cherish their culture,” he said. “We wanted them to know who we are, what we do and where we come from.”
Sword said Polynesian culture envelopes love, happiness, humbleness and family.
“I thank Heavenly Father for making (this) possible for us,” he said.
Be the first to comment on this article!