Fresh pineapple and hibiscus flowers decorated the Grand Ballroom of the George Sherman Union Saturday, as the Hawaii Cultural Association held its 10th annual Hawaiian-Style Lu`au, complete with food, decorations, hula and native garb.
More than 250 students, faculty and community members attended the event, which provided insight into Hawaiian culture and included island food, music and dancing.
“Since there are many different cultures present in Hawaii, the food represents a diverse cross-section of that which you would find in Hawaii,” said College of Arts and Sciences senior and Hawaii Cultural Association President Kristyn Kitabayashi.
“The lomi lomi salmon and kalua pig are more ‘traditional’ Hawaiian recipes, while the other foods are influenced by other ethnicities such as Japanese and Chinese,” she said.
Two groups – Waitiki and Akamai Brain Collective, which used a ukulele to entertain the audience – provided dinner music.
After dinner, the dancing performances began and included traditional hula, which included chanting, as well as modern hula and a Maori dance that included swinging Poi Balls, small balls on the end of short pieces of rope, in the air.
The night concluded with a series of Tahitian dances that ended in audience participation. Eight contestants were pulled up on stage and told to “shake what your mamma gave you,” as the audience cheered.
CAS freshman Nils Brasz said the food was great, but that he had trouble paying attention to it.
“The dancers are sexy – lots of hotties in there,” he said. “It was also a good variety of food, lots of stuff I haven’t had before.”
Amber Held, a University Professors Program sophomore and one of the finalists in the Tahitian dance contest, said she liked the overall atmosphere.
“The band provided some nice island jams,” she said. “It’s like having a taste of Hawaii in Boston.”
CAS junior Natalie Halamar found the lu`au a unique experience.
“It’s a different kind of thing to do on a Saturday night and it gets me excited for the summer,” she said.
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