ASCC MATAI AMBASSADORS LOOK BACK ON SUCCESSFUL HAWAII VISIT
By James Kneubuhl, ASCC Press Officer
After having competed in the "We Are Samoa" festival at the Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC) in Laie, Hawaii on May 15, the members of the American Samoa Community College’s premier dance troupe the Matai Ambassadors arrived back home just in time to get caught up in the frenzy of the College’s Spring 2004 graduation week. One Matai Ambassador, Tanya Anne Posala, had to catch the first flight back from Honolulu after the festival to prepare for her role as valedictorian of the graduating class of Spring 2004. With things now quieted down on the ASCC campus, the members of the Ambassadors have time to reflect on a trip where their success exceeded all expectations, even their own.
With the festival’s competitions divided into high school and college areas, the Matai Ambassadors came in second place overall in the latter division, ahead of Samoan groups from Chaminade University, UH Manoa and Hawaii Pacific University. The Samoan troupe from Brigham Young University took first place honors.
Lodged at the Laie Inn, adjacent to the PCC, the Matai Ambassadors spent the days leading up to the competition fine-tuning their show and enjoying the hospitality of the district’s Samoan community. "Every evening, one of the Samoan community groups in Laie would provide dinner for us," recalls head Matai advisor Dr. Vena Sele. ASCC Samoan language and culture instructor High Talking Chief Pa’u Pepe Faleatua also traveled with the group to act as their spokesman for ceremonial occasions, and he gave a traditional speech of thanks to each Samoan group in Laie who helped make the Ambassadors feel at home.
On the day of the festival, the Ambassadors immediately noticed that every single group from the other colleges outnumbered them by at least three-to-one. "Our group consisted of 20 dancers and nine singers and musicians," recalls Dr. Sele. "Most of the other groups had more than 70 members, while Brigham Young, who came in first, had more than 100."
As show time approached, apprehensions ran high among the ASCC students as they waited backstage. To calm the Ambassadors’ nerves and give them a shot of confidence, HTC Pa’u called them into a huddle and told them a story from the Bible. "When 10,000 Israelites had to face an arm of 100,000," he began, "God said they didn’t need all 10,000 for the fight. He called to the Israelites to drink from the river, and those who stooped to the water God deemed unworthy to fight in the battle. He chose only those who lifted the water to their lips as his warriors, but with Him on their side, this small number easily defeated an army of 100,000. Imagine yourselves," HTC Pa’u told the Ambassadors, "as the ones who lifted the water to their lips." This analogy did the trick, and the re-energized ASCC group took the stage with the zeal of the Israelites in the parable their High Talking Chief had so wisely chosen.
The Samoan community on Oahu had come out in force for the festival, and each competing group gave their respective performance everything they had. In the college division, judges ranked the groups for best overall dancing, best taualuga and best fa’aluma as they performed on the PCC main stage. The latter category came as a surprise to the Ambassadors. "We only learned about the fa’aluma aspect of the competition after we arrived in Hawaii," said Dr. Sele, "otherwise we would have prepared for it." Still, the Ambassadors’ spirited performance that afternoon won them the most points in the best taualuga category, and second place in the overall competition.
Actually, during their taualuga, it looked for a moment as if the Ambassadors’ performance would turn into a disaster. As they sang and danced through their closing number, and members of the audience came forward to offer lafo (donations), a fight broke out in the back of the main stage amphitheater. While it took the PCC security several minutes to bring the situation under control, the Ambassadors simply carried on performing. "At first, the fight distracted the crowd," Ambassadors member Jason Hollister recalls, "but when the audience saw that we wouldn’t stop, they started cheering even louder for us."
Despite the brawl, the ASCC students’ raised more lafo during their taualuga than any of their competitors. "Afterwards, the MC commended the Ambassadors for maintaining their poise during the disruption," added Dr. Sele. "He also gave the crowd a stern lecture about how events like the ‘We Are Samoa’ festival cannot continue if careless, disrespectful individuals ruin the occasion for everyone else by starting fights."
Following the announcement of the performance results, and still dazed at having come in second place when they had at first expected to finish last, the Ambassadors got to bask in the glow of compliments from many well-wishers. As they made their way through the crowded PCC parking lot back to the Laie Inn, even random motorists took time to congratulate them on the job they’d done. "In that long line of cars waiting to get out of the parking lot," recalls Hollister, "when people saw us walking they would roll down their windows and tell us we should have won. I’ll never forget that feeling, and it definitely put us all in the mood to celebrate."
Reflecting on the lessons learned from the Matai Ambassadors’ first foray into overseas competition, Dr. Sele says that more preparation will go into their future shows. "To compete against dancers like the ones at Brigham Young, who perform all year, we need to do more rehearsing than the three months we did before this trip." However, with this first taste of near-victory still fresh in their minds, the Ambassadors hope to compete in Laie again next year. "Preparing for the festival every year can give us a goal to aim for," says Dr. Sele, "and the motivation to continually improve."