By: Karen Rios Lopez
The Pacific Islanders Club is a club that tells a story through dance. It is a very inclusive and supportive family. All the dance moves and music have a deep meaning and it’s fun. The club recognizes Polynesian cultures, it focuses on Tahitian, Hawaiian, Samoan, and New Zealanders.
The Pacific Islander club is led by Ms. Rodriguez. She is an English and Avid teacher at Eisenhower High School. She has been leading this club for about 9 years. She fell in love with dancing after a trip and she joined a club in 6th grade. She is now the leader of the club at Eisenhower. She puts in lots of time and effort to help her club succeed.
The club invites everyone to join. It does not matter if you do not have a Polynesian background or dancing abilities. They are all very welcoming and they are willing to teach you. Like club member, Angelique says “the more the merrier!”. The club members have lots of fun learning new dances and expressing themselves through the dance moves. Eugene, Angelique, and Alessia say “they enjoy dancing, they like the feeling”. Members that have Polynesian backgrounds don’t mind sharing their culture at all.
Some of the members get nervous dancing but they try to hold it together. Once they get into the feeling they focus on the rhythm and beat of the music. Eugene says” he feels no pressure just nerves every once in a while”. Alessia says “she gets nervous but dancing releases her nerves”. They are all very supportive of each other and Eugene is great at helping people with stage fright.
The Pacific Islanders are a dancing club, but they aren’t like any other club. All their dance moves and songs have deeper meanings. Every dance move tells a story and gives emotion. The club likes to listen to the songs before they dance so that they understand the meaning and story it tells. This way they can adjust the dance moves to the music. The club is taught new dances by a Hawaiian auntie. She teaches them hula dancing and much more.
The people in the club are very hardworking. The props and costumes they used are handmade by them.
Being in the club isn’t pressuring but it is lots of work, especially because they make their own costumes and props. Club member Angelique says “It’s lots of work so you would need good time management.”. She prioritizes schoolwork then she focuses on PI.