Hips, heartfelt goodbyes with Temana Tahitian Club

Temana Tahitian Club shook its hips and said goodbye to some of its senior members as well as club president Ka’ui Perreira at Extravaganza on Friday.

Temana Tahitian Club aims to educate its members about Tahitian culture and history through Tahitian dance. This year the club was ran by Perreira and vice president Sarah Cervantes whom led the choreography for Extravaganza.

Tahitian Club performed to various ʻōteʻa drum beats and an original song “Iorana” sung by Kaleo a local musician and friend of Perreira’s. The club danced to several contemporary songs such as “Touch” by Little Mix, “Low” by Flo Rida, and “She Wolf” by Shakira. During the middle of their performance the club brought members of the crowd onto the field to dance with them for a short song. Solo dances were performed by Perreira and Vika Rosen, Courtney Oishi, Desiree Depondicchello, and Sarah Cervantes during various parts of the performance.

Each member wore a traditional costume. The women wore orange pareos with coconut bras and a hip hei, which is a fluffy grass belt meant to accentuate the hips of the performer. On their head they wore a woven crown of grass and shell decorations. The men were covered in baby oil while wearing green and white pareos with braided grass necklaces as well as a woven crown adorned with a large shell.

“I think the performance went really well” said Perriera “everyone did a fantastic job. Everyone worked really hard and hopefully had a lot of fun performing.”

At the end of the performance the seniors of Temana Tahitian Club; Rosen, Depondicchello and Perreira all walked to the center of the field where they were recognized by the school along with the seniors of all the other clubs.

After the last performance all the clubs came together for a final flash mob choreographed to the song “I can’t stop this feeling” by Justin Timberlake and the show ended.

“I’m sad that it’s over,” said Amber Rodriguez. “I can’t wait to start again next year and see what our new performance will be.”

This performance marked the last time that Perrieira would lead Temana Tahitian Club after three years of leadership.

“I’m so relieved. I can finally get some sleep” said Perreira jokingly. Tahitian Club spent the last 2 weeks practicing every night from 7:00pm to late at night in preparation for their performance at extravaganza.

Next year Perreira hands leadership of the club to Cervantes as she graduates from Chaminade in May. Cervantes plans to continue with the ideals that Perreira left behind.

“Its important for me that everyone felt included.” Said Perreira. “I hope that everyone gets a chance to learn Tahitian culture and has fun dancing. I will really miss everyone that I danced with, but I plan on being back next year as an advisor since I recently took a job on campus.”

Perreira said she does not plan on dancing again in the future, but might consider it at the urging of her friends.