| OHCC LIVING | APRIL 2025 | 17
Besides tap, belly, ballet and jazz, our
Dance Troupe also oers a class in Hawaiian
dance taught by Kailani Andreotti. Kailani
has taught at Ocean Hills since January 2019.
She leads a professional Polynesian troupe
which performs all over San Diego but saves
her Saturday mornings for us. Her relaxed teaching style makes
for a fun class, but we still learn many of the traditional dances of
Hawaii and Tahiti.
ese dances all come from a rich history as a sacred part of
the people's culture. e performances were symbolic means
to worship the native gods, to welcome guests, and to impart
the history of the islands. Aer being banned for more than a
hundred years by missionaries in the 1800s, these dances saw a
revival in the middle of the 1900s, which has continued to the
present.
e hula includes the Hula Kahiko, the more traditional, sacred
form, and the Hula 'Auana, which is the modern version that
we are used to. e dancers wear fabric skirts, called pareos,
and decorate themselves with leis, shell necklaces, anklets and
headpieces.
e dances are very rhythmic, and are accompanied by music
on ukulele's, steel guitars, and drums.
Tahitian dance is vibrant and fast. e drums provide a strong
rhythm and the conch, called a pu, creates a reverberating tone.
e dancers wear either fabric or grass skirts with a belt decorated
with shells and tassels that move with the quick rotation of the
dancer's hips. e dancers also wear elaborate headdresses and
shake their ahis, which are handheld bouquets of grass.
If you are interested in Hawaiian dancing, please contact
Valerie ompson at valgene2@cox.net. If you are interested in
Belly Dancing, please call Sharon Lair (750) 822-2570. And to
join Ballet, please contact Nancy Trimino at nymauistyle@aol.
com. Submitted by Gloria Lipitz from a previous article
Ocean
Hills
Dance
Troupe
