Students from Brigham Young University in Utah, United States are about to thrill audiences around the world with music and dance perfomances on a virtual tour, starting early Thursday morning (29 April), New Zealand time.
One of the student performers, Kalawaia Fano, said, “Dancing was not always a part of my life. I stumbled upon an opportunity and just dove head first into it, and since then it has meant so much to me. I am not the best nor the most accomplished dancer, but the opportunity to learn about and share my Polynesian culture has become invaluable to me."
Kalawaia Fano.
Kalawaia Fano.© 2021 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.He added, "The message we share in our show as BYU Living Legends is the story in the Book of Mormon and time and time again, I have seen it touch the lives of people so deeply, which is another reason why performing has become such an important part of my life."
"Having served my mission in Samoa and actually being of Samoan descent, this has been an opportunity to further embrace my culture and to learn more about what it is that makes me so proud to be Samoan.”
Living Legends, one of the groups which will perform, has toured the South Pacific before. The group includes students with family connections with the South Pacific, and its repertoire includes Polynesian dances and music.
Other groups which will perform during the week-long virtual world tour include Young Ambassadors, International Folk Dance Ensemble, Vocal Point and Ballroom Dancers.
View the performance schedule here.