Growing up I always wanted to be a dancer. I lived it, breathed it, dreamt it. It wasn’t until I decided to take a break from dance, at the high competing level I was at, that I discovered how much dance truly does for me. Being a multiracial individual, self-expression and acceptance does not always come easy. As I grew older and started to discover the type of person I want to be, and how I want to represent myself, it was dance that played the biggest part in translating that to the world. Whether stepping on stage or choreographing a dance, every step has a piece of me. A piece of who I am and a story suddenly fills the mind of the audience and everything falls into place. For me dance is never just movement, it is a part of who I am.
As I have grown into the dancer I am today, learning routines and taking various styles of classes, I have taken a piece of each choreographer and dancer with me. I have heard and seen their stories, sometimes I have even been a part of them, and now I have them to be a part of my story. When I was deciding where I wanted to continue my dance education and career, I knew I was not just picking a nice campus or looking for the best dorms, I was looking for where I want the next part of my story to be and who I want to be in it. When it came down to my final decision, the dance program at UH Mānoa was an easy yes. When discovering what the program is built of - from Hip Hop and Ballet to Hula and Indigenous Dance Studies - I knew that the program was full of opportunities to learn and grow. Special to me, my dad is from Guam and being Chamorro also holds Hula dance sacred to the story telling of my island and ancestors much like in Hawai’i. It was very important to me to choose a school that would allow me to continue my self-learning and practice of Hula and global dance that ties me back to my home on the other side of the world. UH Mānoa’s diverse and opportunistic BFA Dance program is just what will allow me to continue my training and growth as a dancer.
After my time at UH Mānoa I plan to start a career as a professional dancer. Commercially motivated, I hope to continue my teaching and dancing on tours and through professional performances much like musicals and sports events. I hope to always perform throughout my career for as long as my body allows and through the BFA program, I will be able to learn about my body and how to take care of it as well as professional sides of the dance world to help jumpstart my career.
Beyond my professional career, my end goal is to open a studio. I have had the privilege of teaching dance for the last five years. In school as well as through independent studios, I have taught adults, children, and teenagers of all genders and experience levels. In addition, my choreography has been featured in recitals and concerts as well as musicals and various other showcases. Despite all of my teaching experience and getting to work with highly trained dancers I realized some of my favorite people to teach are the students in my school’s Assisted Learning Students (ALS) or sometimes referred to as “special needs” classes. Also enlisted in the beginners “Dance 1” class, which I have taught the last two years at my high school, have been a few students from the ALS class. These students range from low on the spectrum to completely non-verbal and/or in wheelchairs, but this never stops them from enjoying dance. I have seen the way that dance can change a person's day in my own life, and since teaching these students, I have seen it change others too. No matter how their day is going or what their disabilities may be, when the music comes on and movement starts, their moods change, their attitudes change and suddenly the entire class of students whether a part of the ALS program or not - is unified. That is the gift of dance I believe everyone deserves to experience.
With these experiences in mind, I have decided to use my education and experience to open a studio. This studio will focus on accessibility for all dancers. No matter how old, or what disabilities may apply, everyone will have the chance to dance. In addition I would love to create a studio that is a hub of ethnic and multicultural dance styles. Currently, it can be hard to find one place that offers good specialized classes in Afro, LatinX, Hula, Bali, and other ethnic styles. My dream is to unify them and bring them together to create a studio that is welcome to all dancers, for all types of dancers. I believe there is no such thing as “not being able to dance” , you just have to be given the space to learn and grow so that you can create your story.
I know that UH Mānoa will have a community of students and dancers who are ready to make change and honor the origins of dance. Through furthering my education with them I will be able to obtain the skills and abilities to ready myself for the professional field and business aspects for my future studio. Dance is a gift that is meant to be shared and I cannot wait to honor this art in the years to come. I am eager to contribute to and grow within this community, and I am excited to begin my journey as a dance major at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.