Adela’s Tahitian Dance

I was going through all of our pic­tures think­ing that we were finally caught up with cur­rent work. But then I real­ized that I for­got to post pic­tures of a very impor­tant per­son. I am com­pletely amazed at the tal­ent of a sweet lit­tle girl named Adela. Even her name exudes beauty. She is the daugh­ter of a dear friend who told me all about Adela’s danc­ing abil­i­ties. I remem­ber the first time I met Adela. She was dressed like a lit­tle fash­ion model that could be on the cover of a chil­drens cloth­ing ad. Her hair cas­caded down her small frame and I really mean it–her hair is almost as long as she is. Adela’s hair is such a part of who she is and what she does. I found out from her mom that long hair is a neces­sity for Tahit­ian dance. As Vitaliy and I pho­tographed her danc­ing event, I could see why. It accen­tu­ates her move­ments and flows beau­ti­fully in the air.

The fas­ci­nat­ing thing about Adela is that she is extremely shy when you meet her in per­son. She is gen­tle, soft spo­ken, and can eas­ily retreat inwardly when approached by a stranger. How­ever, the minute she gets in her cos­tume and steps on that stage, I see a com­pletely dif­fer­ent Adela. She is in her ele­ment on that stage and has all the free­dom in the world because she is using the gift God gave her. It was a bless­ing to get to watch Adela’s per­for­mance and an honor to be able to photograph.

Antoinette, thank you for invit­ing Vitaliy and I to pho­to­graph your sweet daugh­ter. You and Rosar have done a remark­able job rais­ing a beau­ti­ful and tal­ented lit­tle girl. I can’t wait to see what her future holds.

Event: Pacific Islander Show
Loca­tion: Leo Ryan Park, Fos­ter City
Tahit­ian School: Hula Halua ‘O Nalua Ote Api
Name of Dance: A’ TU u Toru u’ known as “Apir­ima.” It is about a girl leav­ing her island and cry­ing but she is also happy at the same time.

Here is Adela’s dance team. They are inside prac­tic­ing before the show. In real­ity, they are try­ing to stay warm because it was a windy cold day. See what I mean about the long hair? Look at all of them!

There is the sweet Adela. This is my favorite shot of the day.

It was so windy and so cold! The girls were like lit­tle pro­fes­sion­als. They didn’t let the cir­cum­stances affect their per­for­mance at all. This is a shot of Adela on her way to the stage.