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Caitlyn Nakatsukasa | Staff Writer<\/span><\/p>\n Western\u2019s Hawaii Pacific Island Harmony Club\u2019s 12th annual lu\u2019au took place on Saturday, April 12.<\/span><\/p>\n The lu\u2019au was hosted by the WOU Hawaii Pacific Island Harmony Club and Pasefika, a group from Salem, Oregon that introduces the spirit of island dances to others. It was held on campus in the New PE building where both dinner and performances were provided.<\/span> \u201cNot many people in Oregon know much about the Polynesian culture,\u201d said junior Kameron Acebo, hula dancer and Hawaii Pacific Island Harmony Club member. Acebo is a third-year dancer and performs outside of school. \u201cI think the best way to share (the culture) is to celebrate it and throw this huge lu\u2019au.\u201d<\/span> Aside from the performances, there was entertainment involved with the guests and dancers. Hula dancers invited children to the stage and taught them how to dance the \u2018ote\u2019a,\u2019 a Tahitian dance with rhythmic hip shaking. The hosts had a \u2018chee hoo\u2019 contest, a celebratory exclamation used by many Pacific Islanders. The performers invited volunteers to come up on stage and express their loudest and powerful \u2018chee hoo.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI enjoyed all of the energy and good vibes at the lu\u2019au,\u201d said junior Kui Silva, hula dancer and Hawaii Pacific Island Harmony Club member. This is Silva\u2019s second year participating in the lu\u2019au and had fun spreading the Aloha spirit through her performances, explaining, \u201cI enjoyed dancing with all of my friends beside me and for my family who came up to visit me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Acebo enjoyed performing with individuals that became close friends. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThis was important to me because the club has introduced me to so many new people over the years and it\u2019s great being able to meet new people every year through this club,\u201d Acebo explained.<\/span><\/p>\n The event concluded with the announcement of the next Hawaii Pacific Island Harmony Club\u2019s new officers for 2018-2019 and the Aloha Hawaii song, an anthem for Native Hawaiian people and residents.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMahalo nui loa!\u201d the hosts exclaimed. \u201cThank you for coming out tonight.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Contact the author at cnakatsukasa15@wou.edu<\/span><\/p>\n Photos by: Paul F. Davis<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Caitlyn Nakatsukasa | Staff Writer Western\u2019s Hawaii Pacific Island Harmony Club\u2019s 12th annual lu\u2019au took place on Saturday, April 12. The lu\u2019au was hosted by the WOU Hawaii Pacific Island Harmony Club and Pasefika, a group from Salem, Oregon that introduces the spirit of island dances to others. It was held on campus in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1030,"featured_media":7627,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"modified_by":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1030"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7626"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7626\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n<\/span>The evening began with brief music from singers and traditional Hawaiian food: rice, kalua pig with cabbage, macaroni salad, pineapple and coconut cake.<\/span>
\n<\/span>Dancers then came together and performed the Oli Aloha chant, which welcomed the guests to the lu\u2019au. Hawaii Pacific Island Harmony Club President and sophomore Hannah Perreira explained that the song is dedicated to the Polynesian people and brings them together as one. The chant was followed by the Hula Kahiko performance, which embodies the true Hawaiian culture using traditional percussion instruments, such as the ipu keke.<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernjournal\/files\/2018\/04\/DSC8244-819x1024.jpg\")
<\/span>Throughout the show, many dances were performed that express and highlight various cultures.<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/span>The dances at the lu\u2019au ranged from gentle and flowing hula moves to fast and lively dances.<\/span>
\n<\/span>Perreira explained what each song meant and how it\u2019s relative to the Pacific Islands.<\/span>
\n<\/span>Dancers performed the song Aloha Oe, which was written by Queen Liliuokalani to express her love and farewells to the islands. The song, Perreira described, is related to the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian kingdom in 1883, and its statehood shortly after.<\/span>
\n<\/span>Pasefika performed the \u2018haka\u2019 to the audience, a traditional war cry and dance in the Maori culture that consists of violent chanting and foot stomping. The group also demonstrated the \u2018Fa’ataupati,\u2019 a Samoan dance that represented the invasion of mosquitoes in the kingdom. The dance mimics people slapping mosquitoes off of each other\u2019s bodies. Many of these dances represent the storytelling traditions and passion of the islands.<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernjournal\/files\/2018\/04\/DSC8438-683x1024.jpg\")
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