Next weekend: Tahitian dancers from across the globe to compete at Heiva i Kaua‘i festival

The Garden Isle will play host to an international dance competition next weekend – when dancers from throughout Kaua‘i and beyond gather for the 22nd annual Heiva i Kaua‘i Tahitian Dance Festival.

The two-day event set for Aug. 3 and 4 at Kapa‘a Beach Park will feature solo and group dance performances, drumming and – on Saturday evening – a Sāmoan fire knife contest.

“We’re getting more and more from outside Hawai‘i,” Agnes Haohao, a former dancer now on the Heiva organizing committee, said of the festival’s growth over time. “We’ve got groups competing from the other islands, groups from the mainland, from different parts of Canada and Mexico … some Southeast Asian groups.”

Some years, groups from Japan and Taiwan in East Asia have competed as well – and the US mainland groups aren’t limited to West Coast states like California. Some travel out of Florida; one festival included a self-taught fire knife competitor hailing from Utah.

“Cultural exchange all over the place: People picking up and learning the dance culture and everything like that. It’s spreading,” Haohao said. “There’s more … exposure, knowledge, sharing and perpetuating. Everything from the early stages [of the dance] to the changes it’s had from modernization.”

Tahitian dance is distinct from the iconic hula of Hawai‘i. According to multi-award-winning dancer Lani Figaroa, the former is more energetic and fast-paced than the latter as a rule.

“I love the energy and I love the consistency … Tahitian beats just trigger me,” she said.

Figaroa has won over 25 competitions over the past 15 years or so, dancing throughout the state of Hawai‘i and over 2,500 miles to the south on the island of Tahiti itself.

“You’ve got to be so perfect and precise when you dance Tahitian,” said Figaroa, who has spent the entirety of her dancing career under the instruction of Nicholas Kaneakua, a fellow Kaua‘i resident and leader of the local Tahitian dance group Tumoana (formerly known as Ori Uvira).

“This is the only thing my dancers look forward to on Kaua‘i, as far as competition,” Kaneakua said of Heiva i Kaua‘i.

Kaneakua, Figaroa and dozens of Tumoana dancers recently gathered at Lydgate Beach Park to deliver an exhibition for island news outlets and practice for the upcoming Heiva i Kaua‘i competition.

Men, women, boys and girls moved in concert beneath the lofty rafters of the large Lydgate pavilion while Kaneakua issued pointers from its stage. Figaroa, now a leader within the group, watched from the sidelines. Others operated a large sewing machine placed on a nearby picnic table: Costumes made especially for Heiva i Kaua‘i needed to be completed.

Tumoana’s 2024 group performance celebrates the beauty of womankind, according to Figaroa.

“We are not based in Tahiti. We’re based in Hawai‘i, so I use my cultural ties, my genealogy, to tell stories,” said Kaneakua.

He almost always develops new material for his dancers, taking pains to ensure everything – from their wardrobe to each movement they make – is united by a common theme. This year marks a rare exception to the rule, in that Tumoana will perform covers at Heiva i Kaua‘i rather than original pieces.

“I create things that are relative to me here in Hawai‘i and back to Tahiti, and I gather both and I try to link them both together,” Kaneakua continued. “We definitely try to look at something that’s part of us: I’m not from the mountains, so you won’t find me dancing stories of the mountains. I’m from the ocean, so a lot of the stories that we are doing are always ocean-related.”

But participants in Saturday evening’s Po Afi Fire Knife Competition – who wield flaming weapons in dazzling displays of athleticism – will ensure the scores of dancers and drummers at Heiva i Kaua‘i don’t steal the show.

Kamohoali‘i-Kama Drake is an organizer of the contest. Born and raised in the Kaua‘i lūʻau industry, the founder of iSiva FireKnife Crew spent his early childhood dreaming of becoming a fire knife dancer. He began learning his craft at the age of 7.

“I thank God for blessing me with this talent and passion to perpetuate the art of Sāmoan fire knife,” Drake said.

Drake has performed for the past 26 years. He recites a portion of Isaiah 43:2 before each dance. The verse concludes, “When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.”

The fiery art form, according to Drake, is based on warfare: Traditional dance movements echo attack and defense positions, he said, while the dancers’ flaming staves are modeled on weapons like sharktooth clubs and hooks.

Drake and others have sustained multiple-degree burns – his brother was once hospitalized. Yet he continues to perform with an unmatched enthusiasm.

“We love to perpetuate our culture,” Drake said. “We love sharing it.”

Vendors at the festival will offer an array of Tahitian and other Pacific Islands gifts, jewelry, art, woodwork and clothing. Food vendors will sell a variety of ethnic dishes while artists provide
demonstrations of Polynesian crafts.

The 22nd annual Heiva i Kaua‘i Tahitian Dance Festival will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day of the Aug. 3 and 4 event. The Po Afi Fire Knife Competition on Saturday will run from 6 to 10 p.m.

Daily admission to the dance festival is $8 at the gate while keiki (children) age 12 and under are free, according to a festival flyer. Admission to the fire knife competition is $5.

For more information call 808-822-9447 or visit heivaikauai.com. The festival is supported by the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority, the Kaua‘i Visitors Bureau and the Kapa‘a business community.