The legendary Mai-Kai Restaurant has been lighting your hearts with tiki torches for generations. They have done a whole renovation. Thursday kicks off Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and they’re in full lei mood. From hip shakes to souvenir drinks, the island traditions run deep. Aloha!
Dance equals storytelling … and to tell it the right way for the Polynesian community, you use…
Kamalani Cruz: “It’s full body.”
Varua Mattei: “Oh, yeah.”
Kamalani Cruz: “It’s not even just your hands, your hips. You’re rolling onto the tips of your toes. Your facial expressions. Everything in your body has to speak, even your hair.”
Fort Lauderdale’s Mai-Kai Restaurant is serving tradition mixed with Asian and Polynesian yumminess.
Teuruhei Buchin, Cultural Arts & Entertainment Director: “For us, celebrating the authenticity of Polynesia and preserving our culture is every day. The Mai Kai is totally immersive, so when you come into our front entrance, and you cross over that drawbridge, you really are crossing into the world of Polynesia.”
And their specialty drinks could have you seeing your ancestry stars.
Teuruhei Buchin: “It’s been a long-standing tradition for some of these drinks, such as the Mara Amu, and they’re known for their specialty mugs.”
But the real headliner is all the stage action.
Teuruhei Buchin: “We have people here from 1979, 1980, 1990s and the 2000s, up onto the current, and we also have a future generation.”
Like these young movement artists, who start their prep with…
Kamalani Cruz: “Coffee.”
Varua Mattei: “A lot of stretching, too. You pull something, you’re out for a couple of weeks.”
The 45-minute show will captivate you, as they travel to different islands through story.
Varua Mattei: “There’s action, there’s grace, there’s fire. It’s a lot to take in in such a short amount of time.”
Kamalani Cruz: “In Tahiti, it’s Ori Tahiti. In Hawaii, it’s hula, and depending on the style of hula, you have hula ‘auana which is the more modern, and it’s very soft, and you have hula kahiko, which is something that we use as martial arts. It’s for the warriors to dance.”
Sharing their culture with everybody is what makes it worthwhile.
Kamalani Cruz: “As someone who dances, I feel the mana from the audience, and when they’re feeling it and they’re loving it.”
Varua Mattei: “We’re feeling it.”
You can get an up-close view every day with varying showtimes.
FOR MORE INFO:
The Mai-Kai Restaurant & Polynesian Show
3599 N. Federal Highway
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33308
954-563-3272
Website