Welcome to Dance 158/159 at Palomar Community College, an introduction to the exotic cultures of Hawaii & Tahiti through percussion, song and dance. We hope these videos help our students with practice and anyone else who wants to learn.
We are Dawn & Don Cheek (mother/son). Dancing since age 3, Dawn decided to focus on Polynesian dance, studying under Valerie Sills, Liz Kahaleponi Edwards and Nia Soule. Don became a drummer and fire-knife dancer and has worked with Teri Rua, Tini Turi Ake, Pete Sanoa, Malala McCormick, Foi Moi and Liz Kahaleponi Edwards.
We've been in Polynesian entertainment since 1975 when Dawn and husband Donald founded the Tiki Hut Dance Studio, a big part of the SoCal Polynesian Dance scene during the 1970s and 1980s. We currently manage the Tipanie O Patitifa dance company.
All classroom videos are by permission of the instructors. Please keep an aloha spirit in your comments or they won't be approved.