Culture Night 2015 opened March 27 with a chant by Ipo Pule, continued by Dawn Wasson, a kupuna in the community. The Hawaiian Association featured the “kahiko style of dancing” as a way to commemorate and celebrate ancient tradition of hula, said Makana Rapozo, one of the student kumu for this year’s presentation. She said this specific style is hard to learn in the time allotted, but gauging by audience response, the Hawaiian Association opened Culture Night 2015 with a bang. Taiwan continued the thread of more ancient tradition, with members using drums and bamboo poles in their performance. Taylor Yim, a junior in psychology from Indiana danced for Taiwan. He said,“I think the goal was to celebrate the culture of Taiwan and represent it and share with our friends here in Hawaii. A lot of hard work went into practicing and planning for it, but all of it was done with a spirit of ohana and unity, never leaving anyone without support. Out of the performances I was involved with this year, I definitely learned the most from my friends in Taiwan chapter.”Papua New Guinea, Mongolia, Cook Islands, and Latin America followed. The dancers of Latin America took the stage in black and red. Dancer Kelly Stevens, a sophomore in computer science from Oregon, said, “It was fun to learn more about their culture. They told us the moods of the different dances: The tango is more serious and bachata was more fun.” They had some costume problems they overcame, said Stevens. “We ordered dresses, but they didn’t come, so we just wore black dresses. Everything came together.” The Africa performance came next, followed by India, China and Europe.The European Association performed the waltz, and Hungarian folk dances. European Association President Bettina Fekete, a senior in business management from Hungary, said, “I was very proud of our dancers. They did a great job and we had fun performing at Culture Night. Our group wasn’t as large as other associations, but I think our performance still looked good. The night was awesome! A little nerve-wracking because we had to go on stage sooner than originally planned, but it all worked out! I loved how the audience got involved and clapped along with us during the folk dance.” The next performance, Malaysia and Singapore, also did a folk dance. They were followed by the Native American Association, which featured hoop dancers and a stern chief at the head of a tribe. But the tribe members humorously played around when he wasn’t looking.The night closed with the Samoan performance, but only after the crowd expressed its excitement through cheers and shouts. “Everyone always looks forward to Samoa, even though it’s not the host culture,” commented Ana Urie, a community member of Laie. “This year there were so many people participating and it as amazing to see the raw fluidity of the entire set.” Culture Night kicked off the first night with a “different energy,” as described by Lela Taurean, a junior HTM major from Texas. “The pride and vigor of each group was so apparent and everything felt fresh and like it had never done before. At the same time, the ancestors were definitely present and performing with this kind of approval is unreal.”
Writer: Morgynne Tora and Samone Isom
