CHARLOTTE, N.C — Joe Siu was born in American Samoa and spent his childhood going back and forth from Hawaii with his dad. The Siu family was full of performers, and Siu kept the family tradition alive by performing at luaus.
“We did three shows a night, and that was my living where I paid my rent, you know, and put food on the table,” Siu said.
Siu moved to North Carolina with his family in 1995.
“I was kind of skeptical about not carrying my heritage, doing the shows and things I love to do, but when I moved here, I met a lot of islands folks over here and it kind of got me settled into North Carolina,” Siu said. “It was like my home away from home,” he added.
What You Need To Know
- Hula Carolina performs luaus across the state
- The luaus include hulas and a fire knife dance
- Joe Siu performs with Hula Carolina as a way to stay connected to his home
Siu travels with Hula Carolina across the state, performing shows and competing in dance contests. They perform hulas from Hawaii and a traditional fire knife dance from Samoa. Siu said the fire knife dance is used in celebrations back home.
“Like a sitting of a high chief, someone gets married, high school graduations, they do really big gatherings for those kind of events like that,” Siu said.
After he performs for a crowd, Siu said he loves to talk to everyone who watched the dances so he can help teach them the history and importance of the dances they have just seen.
“I get to share part of my culture too. A lot of folks will be surprised, ‘Oh, where are you from?’ I’m from the Polynesian Island. ‘Oh, where is that?’ So, it’s almost like going back to school and trying to teach them, you know, where’s it from, what we do and how we are,” he explained.
You can find more information about Hula Carolina here.