Aloha, HeartWood!

I'm traveling this week, so I thought you deserved a getaway, too. Unfortunately, I can't take all of you with me to Tucson; instead, I'm sending you to the exotic island of . . . Big Rapids! 

Oh. Big Rapids isn't an island? Or exotic?  Well, it sure seemed like it a few weeks ago when the Polynesian dance troupe Aloha Chicago (I know--Aloha Chicago?!!?) came to town as part of the annual Big Rapids Festival of the Arts.

That evening transported me back to my Samoa days, when friends and classmates used to perform some of the same dances I saw on stage. Just the sound of the drums made me feel like a teenager again in the "land of frangipani and Fanta."

If only I could reproduce those sounds here! I guess you'll have to use your imagination, inspired by the pictures below. Bon voyage!

The hip-shaking, Tahitian ʻōteʻa dance

Backfields in motion

It's not all about shaking -- graceful hand motions are also part of the dance

And expressive faces!

Lovely hula hands

Dancing to Elvis Presley's "Rock-a-hula Baby"

"The way she moves her hips to her fingertips . . .

. . . I feel I'm heaven bound."

Audience participation: girls learn a hula.

Only in Michigan: hula girls in galoshes

Hula hilarity

The drummer's facial expressions were as fun to watch as the dancers

More audience participation. It's the guys' turn to tackle Tahitian dancing.