San Francisco Magazine
Best of the Bay Area
July 1999


Lighter Than Airwaves
Paul Parish

The soft swaying hips, flexible spine, and eloquent arms of the hula seem to embody the warm winds and waves that wash the whole world of Hawai'i. As the islands rise out of the sea, the dance seems to rise from it too. Tahitian dance is the cousin of hula, and Mahealani Uchiyama teaches both at her studio which has become the East Bay center for Polynesian dance. A scholar of Hawaiian culture, Uchiyama grew up in Honolulu, but she is not Hawaiian by ancestry and won acceptance with difficulty. Uchiyama's dancing is so beautiful, it is an inspiration in itself. She builds confidence by letting the training take root slowly: Her students know what they need to work on and how fast they're getting it. But even as they practice, they're dancing. The golden walls of her studio reflect the glow of barefoot dancers sinking and rising, turning swiftly, raising their arms, and offering what seems the whole bounty of the sea in their soft hands. Who wouldn't want to be a part of that?