On April 27, Linfield will be hosting their 51st annual Lū’au & Hō’ike. This special event presents a variety of dance performances and styles native to different areas in the Pacific Islands. Each routine is performed by students from Linfield, all with a variety of backgrounds and relationships to the event.
Students begin preparing and practicing early in the spring semester to make sure everyone, no matter their experience, has the time to learn the dances. Most of the students that participate in the Luau are from Hawaii. Kara Kanetake is a junior from Hawaii, and this will be her second time participating in the Luau. She hasn’t had any experience previous to Linfield in it, but was encouraged to join by a friend.
Kanetake has found that her favorite part about participating is the community. “I enjoy getting to hang out with all the people from Hawaii, so it’s nice to have a little community of people when everyone’s so far away from home.”
She also said, “I enjoy learning more about Hawaiian culture, which seems odd since I grew up in Hawaii, but I was never taught much beyond a brief history lesson and being able to share this knowledge and part of our home is really important and exciting.”
Another group of people on campus who will participate are students on the Linfield Dance Team. Mattie Dodge is a junior on the dance team and they have been participating in the Luau since her freshman year.
Originally encouraged by their coach to join, Dodge said, “It’s just a really cool thing to be involved in. As a dancer, it’s also a good way to keep dancing because our [dance team] season is just fall and then January term.”
The students begin practicing in February and meet twice a week. Being a dancer Dodge was able to discuss the difference in movement between dance team routines and Luau.
Dodge said, “It’s just a different type of body awareness, for a lot of hula dancing, your knees are kind of bent the entire time, and it’s very, like, grounded almost in a way that I’m not used to doing, it’s just a different way of sort of orienting your body.”
While students from Hawaii and the dance team make up a majority of the participants, anyone can join. Jorge Idaretta is a student from Spain and this year is his second time participating.
When asked about how he got involved, Idaretta said, “I was interested in playing music and I contacted Cruz [Braun; junior music major] to see if he was interested in forming a band. Then knowing he was one of the Kumus [Hawaiian term for teacher] I asked if it was alright for me to join since it intimidated me a little bit to dance, something I’ve never been too good at. He encouraged me to try it. I loved the vibe and the performance so I decided that was something I wanted to do every year.”
Students from multiple walks of life participate in the Luau. It is a welcoming event that anyone can get involved in. Come see these three students and many others at 7:30 pm, April 27, at the Ted Wilson Gymnasium.
You can purchase your tickets now at this link: Hui o Lōkahi | Linfield University
