Pele -The Goddess of Fire, performs for two nights at the outstanding culture-driven Māngere Arts Centre, and is presented by the Hula Journey in association with Hālau Ka Waikahe Lani Mālie and Pacific Dance Festival 2025. This show is a celebration of Hula in its entirety through the story of Pele and the love between her and the charming Prince Lohiau’ipo. Pele – The Goddess of Fire is more than a show and a love story; it felt like a grounding of ancestral ties from Aotearoa to Hawai’i, and especially poignant with Matariki on the horizon.

The show starts with a guest performance under kumu hula (master hula teacher) Blaine Kamalani Kia’s Hālau, the guest performer dances with such grace and control of her body, showing the audience the essence and technique of Hula to its core. This beautiful performance represented to me the strong connection the Aotearoa hālau branch under Po’o Kumu Aruna Kekeha Po-Ching has to the branch in Hawai’i.’ The solo leads into the show itself where spectacular lighting designed by Jazmin Whittall takes us into dynamic realms representing different mood states. Comedy, romance, and my personal favourite, a supernatural fight scene between Mo’o (shapeshifter)and Hiiakaikapole opele (Hi’iaka) played by Makayla Halafuka and Mataolealofa Ulugia-Lavea, has the whole audience entranced. The dancer’s athleticism and intensity of movement in the space are illuminated beautifully, emphasising how a lighting designer with a dance background such as Whittall can light movement with refined detail.

The intertwining of live music and prerecorded soundtracks is seamless in bringing hula to a theatre setting and guides the audience to each scene whilst giving plenty of breathing space for the cast to project their voices either in oli (chants) or mele (song); another significant element of hula. This is especially powerful when their chants are in unison, but at times it is difficult to hear some of the Kanaka Maoli cast members though you can still feel their powerful presence on stage. The multitalented Aruna Po-Ching’s voice carries many of the scenes not just as narrator but also in mele (song), even if you don’t know the language you can still feel all the emotions and imagery of what the scene is conveying.

Aruna Po-Ching is introduced to the audience in wrapped tapa cloth along with a cane to match her character’s age of an elder holding a history of stories ready to share. She transitions and joins with the majority of the cast in front of a projected volcano frozen in time between dormant and eruption. They move as one, not one hand or foot out of place. You can feel all the dancers know the meaning of each movement and are dedicated to their craft.

The incrediblly detailed and dynamic facial expressions of Jireh Lalotoa, who plays Lohiau’ipo Prince of Kaua’i and the shapeshifter, Makayla Halafuka’s, show their characters clearly in each scene; we see and know who they are without needing to hear them speak. Jireh Lalotoa’s cheeky, flirtatious, and loving character speaks in the way he moves in hula, staying grounded and fluid in addition to maintaining Lohiau’ipo’s lively personality, especially in scenes with Pele played by Roberta Faitele. The theatrical and comedic time-lapse scenes show the wholesome chemistry Roberta Faitele and Jireh Lalotoa have developed in their characters.

Not only is love shown on stage romantically but also through friendship, sisterhood, and motherhood. I particularly enjoyed the love between Pele and Hiiakaikapole opele (Hi’iaka) as sisters. Mataolealofa Ulugia-Lavea and Roberta Faitele show how different their characters are in terms of personality, as Ulugia-Lavea moves with grounded softness along with her kind smile, Faitele moves with the strength of a fire slowly becoming bigger along with the occasional cheeky smile. Near the end of the show when Pele unleashes her anger (and her sinister laughter) through lava and fire on Kanaka Maoli, she meets her disappointed sister Hiiakaikapole who shows her the damage she has done. Here Faitele reveals another side of Pele, one that is more apologetic and guilty with longing eyes for a reconnection with Hiiakaikapole. This highlighted the importance of all the relationships we share in our lives, as many stories often highlight romantic love, Pele – The Goddess of Fire shows the importance of love in all relationships, especially platonic love between women.

It was a privilege to see the Hula Journey Hālau perform to this level, seeing the importance of accessible community dance classes and how it can bring people of different creative, cultural, and dance backgrounds together. Creating a show to professional standards with so much raw talent and respect for hula is uplifting and it is gorgeous to see the program notes share each crew and cast member’s story of who they are as creatives in the show and personally as individuals. I hope the whole cast and crew of Pele – The Goddess of Fire are proud of their hard work and dedication to a fabulous performance, especially artistic director, producer, co-choreographer, playwrighter, and narrator Po’o Kumu Hula Aruna Kekeha Po-Ching. Not only through the many hats she wore in creating this show but in her teachings as kumu in guiding the cast to their fullest potential on stage.

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Walking in and hearing the beautiful music that feels very ancestral and angelic as I sit down, the first thing I see is the volcano which symbolises Pele – Goddess of Fire – the title of the performance. While everyone finds their seats, I wait and start to ponder on the minimalist staging. It is clean and simple. The performance starts with the  massive ensemble Hālau Ka Waikahe Lani Mālie o Aotearoa. They fill up the space with a strong hula. 

The Hawaiian chants start to resonate around the room. The audience feels so captivated that someone behind me is filming, showing how mesmerising this dance show is. At the end I realise they felt the urge to keep recording from start to finish. 

As the Hawaiian chants finish, the Kumu Hula, Aruna Kekeha Po-Ching starts to eloquently tell the story of Pele about the adventures that occur with frequent Hula from ancient to modern. This constant flux and flow between the dance forms is powerful. 

As I sit and watch the art form which is Hula, it emphasises the point of relationships and why it is integral as Pacific people. A Hawaiian saying comes to mind: “Ahuwale ka po’okela i kāu hana iā ha’i” in translation this means ‘It is through the way you serve others that your greatness will be felt”. 

This Hawaiian saying rings true when the story unfolds from the Kumu who continues as the narrator. The dancers embody and act the dialogue that is being said. They bring forth the understanding of Pele who starts to sit in her culture and we experience their camaraderie within this kaupapa. 

This is especially so with Pele embodying Hula in a duet with Prince Lohiau’ipo in the production. This section is greatly thought out. The way both of them and the ensemble occupy the space shows what a strong aesthetic can look like through a performative lens. They definitely deliver aesthetically. The music uplifts the setting and makes me and the audience feel connected with the dancers and the story. 

Constructively though, as a theatre trained actor and a Drama major graduate, the narrator speaking whilst the performers are embodying what is said, needs the cues to be tighter and more concise. 

Despite this fact the highlights are: Hawaiian hulas that traverse moments of lament, celebration, contemporary worlds, spiritual essence, ancestral stories and flirtatious and beautiful moments to create an effervescent atmosphere for us as the audience to receive and take away from this dance show. 

The Hawaiian saying (Ahuwale ka po’okela i kāu hana iā ha’i) is what remains and what is felt – the notion of service and the way the performers intertwine with theatre, dance, chants and each other – shows that Hawaiian creativity and aesthetic is needed more in Aotearoa’s creative arts. 

Overall such a great family show for all ages to watch and understand the story of Pele. Ngā mihi nui to the artistic director, producer, music director Aruna Kekeha Po-Ching and script consultant and music manager Blaine Kamalani. Kia ora for allowing an intimate but powerful show at Te Pou theatre. 

Copyright © in the review belongs to the reviewer