The Auburn Bay Residents Association held its annual Beach Party at the Auburn House and the Pearls of Polynesia were invited to participate. Maya, Christina and Angela all danced at this event. The show was split into two mini 20-25min performances. For each performance, the Pearls of Polynesia performed two dances and then had two interactive activities for community members to participate in.
There was a beautiful custom made stage with a black surface for the performances which had been preheated by the sun. The hula dancers started their first performance barefoot and they all immediately felt the burning heat of the stage, but knowing that the show must go on, they all continued to dance with great big smiles until Christina was the first to cave and then they all STOPPED, jumped off the stage, put sandals on, then started again! It was like dancing on lava! (The dancers wondered if their feet would blister from the heat of the stage, but surprisingly it was all good!). Lesson learned, sandals remained on their feet for the remainder of the show.
During the second performance, Maya’s drum solo turned into a duet with a very enthusiastic audience member.
A shout out to the two amazing teenage boys who managed to dance the complete Tahitian warrior dance all while holding snow cones and not spilling!
There were participants of all ages, but there were also some VERY young, keen and eager participants in the audience. It did prove to be a bit of a challenge to modify the pareos to fit the really little children for the interactive activities, but it was a first for the Pearls of Polynesia to get to teach toddlers in the fine art of hula dancing. All participants did very well!
Also a first, the winner of the male Tahitian Warrior dance was a young lady who won a lovely pair of coconuts!
The Hawaiian Band activity was VERY successful with the children. They were very studious and very quickly picked up the island rhythms to great audience applause.
The amazing photographer Dean Imler snapped some amazing pictures of the performances which we are happy to share a selection here:
The Pearls of Polynesia performing at Auburn Bay’s Annual Beach Party, dancing to a hula choreography, copyright Dean Imler
The lovely Angela leading the crowd participation activities sprinkled with her famous sense of humour, instructing the audience members on how to tie on a pareo and how to hula like the Hawaiians, Copyright Dean Imler
Everyone went home with pineapples and the Pearls of Polynesia got some great photos by the beach. It was hot and very beautiful and the hula dancers got stopped while walking on the beach to take photos with residents.
DJ Michael and DJ assistant Rory were very professional and fabulous to work with.
A very fun and successful show! The Pearls hope to be invited back for more hula beach fun!
Overheard: “I love your lei. Can I have it?”
