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Mahealani Uchiyama
Photo by Brennan Gilroy
Dancer, Musician, Composer, Iyanifa, Kumuhula
Mahealani Uchiyama was raised within the discipline of the classical hula tradition. She holds a B.A. in Dance Ethnology and an M.A. in Pacific Islands Studies from the University of Hawai'i. She has taught Hawaiian Language at Stanford University (2001 - 2002) and has performed with numerous Hawaiian, Tahitian, and Caribbean dance ensembles. In 1994 she was a featured soloist of North African Dance in the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival.
She is the Director of the Center for International Dance, and the KaUaTuahine Polynesian Dance Company. She is a dancer, musician, composer, kumuhula (instructor of hula and ori). She has produced a series of instructional DVDs and publications, and is a recording artist. Her CDs, Tuahine Rain, Moemoea, and Tatau are widely available. She and her dancers have performed in such venues as San Francisco's Palace of Fine Arts, Te Papa Tongarewa (the National Museum of New Zealand, Aotearoa), and the Grand Heiva in Tahiti, French Polynesia. Ms. Uchiyama has also recently produced the critically acclaimed “A Walk By the Sea”, a performance and ceremony in song and dance which explores issues of identity and healing.