The Ka Ua Tuahine Polynesian Dance Company is an award winning ensemble made up of individuals from diverse backgrounds dedicated to the perpetuation of Polynesian performing arts. The company is named after a light rain that falls in Manoa Valley on the island of O'ahu. KaUaTuahine is under the direction of Mahealani Uchiyama a student of dance since her early childhood, having been 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. In addition to her academic degrees, she has also studied extensively with one of Hawaii's premier hula masters, Joseph Kamoha'i Kaha'ulelio.

KaUaTuahine has highlighted many performances, festivals, and events in the Bay Area, and in 2002 they traveled to Tahiti to study and perform with one of Tahiti's preeminent dance ensembles, Orihere Maohi. Their journey has been chronicled in an award-winning documentary film, Black Pearl, which on May 17th, 2003 was featured on KHET Hawai’i Public Television. They have won numerous awards at the San Jose Tahiti Fete’, iincluding top honors in the Drumming and Music Categories. They appeared in the 2004 San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival and received a trophy in the 2004 King Kamehameha Hula and Chant Competition in Honolulu, Hawai’i. They also performed in Tahiti in the summer of 2004 during the annual Heiva Celebration, on Maui in the summer of 2005 for Ka ‘Aha Hula O Haualaola, and most recently in Wellington, New Zealand as part of the Culture Moves Conference on Dance in Oceania in November of 2005.



Check out these links too learn more about KaUaTuahine
Mahealani Uchiyama in Concert
A Walk by the Sea
Tahiti Tour 2004
San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival
Black Pearl, by Hoku Uchiyama
KaUaTuahine in New Zealand
Tatau, Mahealani's newest CD - Please check back soon!
Recent Photos - Please check back soon!