After 28 years of fireknife dancing at the Polynesian Cultural Center, Kap Te’o Tafiti has been building a legacy far deeper than a performing art. Young people are captivated by the fireknife dance, Tafiti said, but “fireknife dancing draws them into their culture to learn who they are.” Wally Sopi Seupule, a sophomore from Samoa studying business, has worked with Tafiti in the Samoan Village at the PCC for two years.
Tafiti has been a mentor to him, he said, expanding his knowledge of fireknife dancing and Samoan culture. “I have learned some things of my culture that are dying today that I never knew before from Kap,” Seupule said. “There’s so much in him that is making the Samoan Village still alive and preserved like how it was back in the days.”
Samoan students who come to BYU-Hawaii can gain a deeper knowledge of their culture from the PCC. Tafiti said he had the advantage of growing up with elders in his village and learned the culture directly from them.
“I was Samoan, the Samoan of Samoans. The knowledge gained from our ancestors can never truly be learned from a book. It is learned by listening, watching and doing over and over with the guidance of an older family member.
"That’s where our deepest understanding of who we are and where we come from and why we do the things we do occur,” said Tafiti.
After his first introduction to fireknife dancing at 8 years old by his older brother, Ah Chew Tafiti, he said it was second nature to him. “I was the kind of kid who learned really fast,” Tafiti said. “That was a talent God gave me. I wasn’t ever good at school. I want to be out here and see things and learn,” he said.
What sets Tafiti apart as a performer is his personality. In Samoa, when people came to visit, his family would tell him, “‘Get up and dance.’ I always would when the other kids were too shy,” said Tafiti.
Tafiti came to BYUH in 1987 from Apia in Western Samoa. “I’m forever grateful for the prompting to come to BYUH and the PCC. I know that this is where I could share my culture and utilize all my talents from our Father in Heaven to be a positive influence to many. This was my first job. It was like coming home.”
While at the PCC, Tafiti discovered he loved fireknife dancing more than all the other activities in which he was involved. “I really started to take it seriously at the end of my schooling. I really wanted to take it to the next level.” So he put in the practice, hard work and dedication of learning such an intense art.
Being a well-known and established fireknife performer, Tafiti said, “I take my work very seriously. I know that when people are watching me entertain them, they are not just seeing me or my family. They are seeing all Samoans, all Polynesians or all Mormons. People know what we stand for as members, and they know what we stand for as Polynesians. I am always aware that I’m representing more than myself.”
Tafiti considers himself to be an “edutainer,” a word to describe what he does: both educate and entertain simultaneously. He said because he lives and has a deep knowledge of Samoan culture, he is at ease speaking or teaching anyone. “I truly am grateful for the many compliments, but I know the history and purpose of the PCC.”
In the 1960s Tafiti’s father in law, Matte Te’o, came to Hawaii as a missionary to assist building a school that would help to educate thousands of Pacific Islanders. “He and all the other labor missionaries selflessly gave their time and talents to leave a legacy that I directly benefited from, graduating from BYUH with a degree in Fine Arts,” Tafiti said.
In his fireknife dancing, as in his shows, the authenticity of his presentation is what sets Tafiti apart. “It’s only 50 percent performance,” Tafiti said. “If you want to do something warrior-like, be a warrior.” Tafiti continued, “I think all Samoan boys are fascinated by the siva afi [or fireknife dance]. It is at once beautiful, powerful and exciting to see.”
There is an element of fear that needs to be overcome in order to perform the fireknife dance, he said. The fireknives are made of actual metal machete blades that are cut to represent traditional Samoan weapons of war. These blades are then fitted with flammable material, soaked in gas and set ablaze. “The heat is intense and the metal is searing hot–just a slight graze from the blade will both cut and burn you at the same time,” he said.
“As with other Polynesian cultures, every dance has a symbolic meaning. The siva afi depicts the fearless spirit of a warrior.”
After decades of fireknife dancing, Tafiti has endured thousands of injuries characteristic of a career so physically demanding and dangerous. “What they don’t see is the toxic gasoline fume inhalation and the effects like losing your voice from fire-breathing.”
Behind the scenes, it’s all in the balance, Tafiti said. Now at age 48, Tafiti has utilized his Fine Arts degree as a devoted painter as well. “The paintings I am working on now,” he said, “are called Legacy, and it’s a tribute to early Polynesian seafarers, the labor missionaries and all students who have benefitted from the PCC and BYUH.
"Our ancestors traveled by canoe and left a legacy of strength and perseverance. The labor missionaries left a legacy of faith and selflessness and the students who have come here to be educated are spreading their legacy throughout the world. We all leave a legacy. Whether it be of light or not is up to us. I hope that the legacy that I leave will burn bright and benefit many for good.”