Aloha Tales on the Bayou in Houma, Louisiana

Yesterday, I performed my last summer reading show in Louisiana. The Louisiana 2005 Summer Reading theme was "Splish Splash Read!" To compliment the theme, I created a show called "Aloha Tales." As a child, I lived in Hawaii and danced hula professionally. My "Aloha Tales" show is a combination of Hawaiian stories and hula dancing. It was so much fun.

Both of my daughters (Soleil - 15 and Eliana - 5) toured with me. Soleil operated sound while Eliana danced a Tahitian solo (and stole the show!). My show opened with me dancing the hula, "Lovely Hula Hands." I toldd the stories of "Pele, the Goddess of the Volcano "and "Maui Tames the Sun." I also demonstrated poi balls (balls tethered to a long yarn rope) created by the Maori people, puilis (a pair of long bamboo sticks used to create a rhythmic sound), and performed a dance called Nanakuli using uli ulis (maraca-looking instruments decorated with feathers). There was lots of fun audience participation. The show ended with the audience learning to dance the Hukilau, a hula about fishing and eating the fish at a luau. Everyone first learned basic hula until they progressed through the moves. It was so much fun! Our audiences seemed to really enjoy our shows.

Yesterday, our show was in Houma, Louisiana. "Aloha Tales" was the grand finale of the library's Summer Reading Program and we had over 300 people in our audience. It was a blast. I really enjoyed sharing the culture of Hawaii with children all over Louisiana.

Until next time...

Warmly,
Dianne de Las Casas