Ready to perform in D.C. May 4, UH Hilo dancers featured on program cover for national festival
Student dancer Loreal Gonzales says being chosen to perform at the national festival is an honor not only for her school, her community, and her home, but for her ʻohana who lived in Kalapana.
By Susan Enright/UH Hilo Stories.
A group of dance students at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo who were recently selected to perform at the 2025 American College Dance Association’s national festival in Washington, D.C., next month, are featured on the cover of the festival’s program for the day they will perform May 4.
The Hiloverse Dance Crew competed at the 2025 ACDA’s High-Desert Conference at the University of Wyoming, March 26-29, where they received a standing ovation, high praise, and were selected to perform at the D.C. festival.
- UH Hilo dance students selected to perform at national festival in Washington, D.C. (April 9, 2025, UH Hilo Stories)
At the Wyoming competition, the UH Hilo performance was one of only three dance works chosen out of 40 from various universities and colleges. This will be the first time UH Hilo performs at the ACDA national festival; it was also the first time UH Hilo performed at any regional conference.
The 16 student dancers in the group are Jordan Ancheta, Savannah Christensen, Misty Cruden, Amber Dahl, Milia Dela Cruz, Melinda Eder, Cailin Gaume, Loreal Gonzales, Kanon Hata, Fae Melendez, Kara Murphy, Kira Okazaki, Jourdan Park, Hanna Pempengco, Andre Reneau, and Karissa Shimaoka.
Kea Kapahua, UH Hilo dance instructor at the performing arts department and choreographer of the selected performance Haliʻa Aloha No Kaimū, says it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for UH Hilo to go to the national festival in D.C. as the opportunity only happens once every two years.
“There were approximately 440 dances throughout the 11 ACDA regional conferences,” she explains. “Only three dance works from each region were chosen to move on to the national festival. It is an incredible honor for UH Hilo to be represented like this.”
Kapahua says she created Haliʻa Aloha No Kaimū as a tribute to her ʻohana as her family is from that area of Moku O Keawe, specifically Mokuhulu.
“My intent was to capture the feeling of a moment in time of a people group, in a special place,” she says. “The piece speaks of our ancestors, and that we are not alone. We are the continuation of those who came before us, and eventually, we ourselves, will also become ancestors.”
Student dancer Loreal Gonzales says being chosen to perform at the national festival is an honor not only for her school, her community, and her home, but for her ʻohana who lived in Kalapana.
“Kumu Kea has offered us an opportunity to reflect upon the lifestyles of our ancestors and it has filled me with so much gratitude that my kupuna come from cultivating love and acceptance with strong family values,” says Gonzales. “I could not ask for a more passionate Kumu and her steadfast belief in me and my dance ʻohana. To be a part of her vision and purpose has been one of the greatest honors.”
The dance will be the last piece performed on May 4, in the final of three concerts at the national festival.
Read full story about the group and their winning performance.
Story by Susan Enright, public information specialist for the Office of the Chancellor and editor of UH Hilo Stories. She received her bachelor of arts in English and certificate in women’s studies from UH Hilo.
