Polynesian Student Union celebrates 20 Years
The Polynesian Student Union celebrated its 20th anniversary with a native dance luau at the Taggart Student Center ballroom Thursday evening.
Since 1996, the club has focused on the peoples and cultures of all Polynesian Islands in the Pacific. Thursday night’s luau displayed many different styles of dance from several different islands in the large and diverse region. The islands of Fiji, Hawaii, Tahiti, Samoa, Tonga and New Zealand were featured throughout the night. Club members rehearsed throughout March and April in preparation for the performance.
“I absolutely love the dancing,” said Kenrik Lopez, a junior accounting major and secretary of the club. “The luau gives us a unique opportunity to showcase the dances from different cultures. We have fun, but even as an audience member just watching it, you can feel how fun it is.”
Audience participation was highly encouraged by the master of ceremonies. Volunteer dance challenges, including limbo and hula put audience members’ skills to the test. Trivia questions about the islands quizzed their memory and their knowledge of geography. Boisterous call-and-response of native greetings had the crowd shouting “Aloha,” “Talofa” and “Malo E Lelei” back at the MC.
“They’re doing a great job of involving the audience,” said Brittney Walsh, a freshman biological chemistry major. “I’m very interested in learning about new cultures. I visited Hawaii with my family when I was younger and I really liked how friendly the people were, so I figured the luau would be a great way to become more familiar with the people.”
Members of the Polynesian Student Union aimed to share a message about their people through dance. A message of acceptance, family and friendship is what junior accounting major and club president Matt Kimbrough hopes students around campus associate with the club.
“We accept everybody. Anyone can be in the club,” Kimbrough said. “We spend a week or two at a time learning about the different islands and their cultures. It’s good to be familiar with every Polynesian country.”
Polo Sui’filo, an executive officer, wants Utah State students, staff and alumni to see Polynesians as a welcoming people.
“We are a very inclusive club. We’re a club that’s always reaching out. We love to show our culture through our actions,” the sophomore civil engineering major said. “The more people we have, the more fun we have.”
Andy Sui’filo, graduate accounting major, has experienced firsthand the type of inclusiveness and family life that came along with her marriage to her husband Polo.
“My husband is Samoan. We both danced in the luau, but I’m Caucasian. I just married into the culture,” she said. “I love how everything is centered around family. Family is everything to them. They will drop anything they have going on to help out a brother, cousin or even a good friend they consider to be family. Whether it’s cooking for a wedding or providing a roof over their head, family is all that matters.”
Lopez maintained the ideas behind Andy’s words.
“I’m from Roy, so almost every weekend I go home because there’s always some sort of party going on,” he said. “My family will celebrate almost anything.”
The 20th anniversary of the club certainly isn’t just “anything,” and Lopez hoped to show his passion during his performance of a New Zealand war dance. An intimidating ritual, he said it requires intensity and precision to portray well. Lopez had to dance while also delivering the commands for the other dancers to follow.
“My favorite to perform was the Samoan slap dance,” Polo said.
He, along with other men, used their bodies as drums, slapping themselves rapidly while also staying together to perform in unison.
“My favorite dance? Probably the hula,” Kimbrough said. Contrary to popular belief, hula is traditionally performed by men.
The amount of preparation needed to perform challenging dances at a high level of excellence was a testament to the care put in by the Polynesian students to celebrate their culture and its meaning. “Kia Ora,” a greeting phrase from New Zealand, literally translates as “be well” in English. The Polynesian Student Union hopes to do just that, and to continue spreading their message for years to come.
—edcollins270@gmail.com