Where Dance Meets Home
August 2025
Botanical Garden Panorama
You know when something, or someplace, feels “right?” or feels like “home?”
That’s how I feel about certain places, things, foods, and activities. They just have a quality that draws me in and comforts me in a way that feels safe. It also brings me joy or satisfaction, or maybe both!
Hawaiʻi is the place I grew up in, or, rather, that raised me.
The feeling I get when I think about home brings back nostalgic memories and visceral responses.
I smell the flowers and the saltwater air.
I see glorious mountains and valleys filled with powerful stories.
I hear the waves in rhythm as they flow onto the beach and retreat back over the reef.
I feel the touch of a friends’ embrace when we meet and part.
I taste an ono-licious plate lunch ;-)
Classic Hawaiian plate lunch: poi, laulau, kalua pig, lomilomi salmon, and haupia.
But this feeling “right” or “home” also exists with me in New York City.
I smell…okay, let’s forget about how New York smells.
If you’re lucky, you have neighbors like mine that cook good food that wafts past one of your windows.
I see the skyline of the buildings and greenspaces in between.
I hear trains and planes and cars that have unique tempos and rhythms.
I feel the energy flowing along the sidewalk or subway.
I taste some of the best pizza on earth.
This place also shaped me into the choreographer, dancer, and teacher that I am today.
Looking up from Central Park.
Perhaps it’s the openness to breathe in culture and allow the pulse of the cities to run through my veins. Perhaps it’s the undertones of ancestors lifting and leading me up today. Perhaps it’s trusting that whatever I did before today has led me to this moment.
The constant thread? Dance.
Movement feels right. Movement is home.
I hope you take some time to remind yourself how you got to where you are.
Allow yourself to take a dance break, or a Dance class, or even take a walk around the block. Let your senses take everything in.
What will you discover?
