Students and faculty cheered as performers, dressed in traditional Polynesian clothing, twirled flaming batons through the air, creating rings of fire that lit up the night sky. On Feb. 28, the Student Council introduced the Luau, a new event to showcase the food and entertainment of traditional Polynesian culture. The event was packed with activities and festivities. Hawaiian leis were given out to people, as students and faculty enjoyed their dinner from a full buffet and had drinks from two Tiki mocktail bars, all while listening to a five-piece band playing traditional Polynesian music. As dinner concluded, a show was presented with various styles of Polynesian dances, including two fire dances.
“It was a really jam packed evening, and I think it was really well paced,” president of Student Council Connor Nanus said. “People really enjoyed themselves.”
The night was filled with excitement as students matched their energy with the dynamic fire dancers, joining their performance in the dance.
“When they asked for volunteers [to go] up at the end to learn and dance, a good majority of people went up and did the dance,” Nanus said. “At the end they were taking pictures, they were talking and they were just having a great time.”
Student Council initially developed this event at the end of last year when brainstorming for the Sadie Hawkins dance. Due to a lack of interest, Student Council created a fun event that distinguished itself from a usual high school dance.
“It was very poorly attended,” Nanus said. “It seemed like everyone working on it didn’t really want to do it, and no one really wanted to go to it. It felt like a repeat of what we already had with homecoming and prom.”
The creation of the Luau became a new event that not only created a different experience for students but also featured several aspects of Polynesian culture. To bring this vision to life, the Student Council partnered with Aloha Productions, which specializes in these types of events.
“[They] brought in performers who come from Tahiti and the Pacific Islands in Hawaii and work in Orlando, at Disney and Universal,” Nanus said. “Coming from far away to bring their culture, we were lucky enough to make sure it felt authentic and real.”
Alongside spreading Polynesian culture into Trinity, another focus of the Luau was to create a relaxing environment for students to enjoy each other’s company.
“Everyone got a lei when they first got there,” Student Council sponsor Brian Kells said. “We had mocktails and things like that to just give the kids a chance to have fun together. [It was] not in a super serious environment [and] not a dress up [occasion], but a more relaxed casual environment.”
Though much planning and preparation went into organizing the Luau, Student Council faced a huge problem with trying to get people to come to the event. This is because the event took place on a Friday night, a time when most people are trying to relax at home or hanging out with friends outside of school. Luckily, through extensive marketing and advertising the event through multiple assemblies, Student Council was able to show that the Luau was worth people’s time and was worth going to.
“They talked about Hawaiian dancing a lot,” McCardle said. “So I kind of had high expectations and it was really fun.
The Luau ended the night with great success, surpassing many people’s expectations and creating an unforgettable experience for those in attendance.
“The best part for me was seeing how much enjoyment the people had,” Nanus said. “We delivered an event that was not what people expected at all, and that surprise and delight was super satisfying for me to see.”
