About 20 members of the Hula Halau Makanani – Kona Class performed a variety of dances June 14 at Kona United Methodist Church. The halau, led by kumu Lona Warner, wowed the cheering audience of families and friends.

“Our Special Olympics kane did a great job,” said Nikki Cleintuar, longtime volunteer for Special Olympics West Hawaii and Hula Halau Makanani participant. “They pulled out all the stops, performing the dances they’ve been learning and practicing for the past six months.”

The following fabulous photos of the performance and captions are from Nikki. Enjoy!

Adrian Cleintuar is joined by wahine dancers Patti (left) and Marcia (right) for “Island Of Love,” a dance about Kauai.

Duke Kaawa coordinates moves to frontline dancer Lisa Grieg in “Island Of Love.”

Halau Makanani’s traditional “last hula” of every performance includes all dances. It is a beautiful reverent medley of “Walk Through Paradise/Kanaka Waiwai” sung in both English and Hawaiian by Melveen Leed. Pictured left to right are Madeline Follesco, Shane Follesco, Duke Kaawa, Nikki Cleintuar, Amy Chang, Doreen Parker, Ray (Kealoha) Donager and Lisa Greig.

Kane and wahine perform this old favorite using a variety of implements, including ipu, kalaau, pu and puili. Pictured left to right are Duke Kaawa, kumu Lona Warner, Shane Follesco, Madeline Follesco, Ray (Kealoha) Donager, Doreen Parker and Adrian Cleintuar.

Ray (Kealoha) Donager is amazing at getting the poi balls to do exactly what he wants. Here he performs a Maori dance called Hoki Hoki.

This is a lively dance that comes from Tahiti. Dancers Patti, Adrian and Marcia perform Tamure using implements called ii.