About

We wanted to bring in a youthful perspective to the judging panel by having someone to represent the younger generation. This year we invited Heu. She is a dancer; lead Instructor & choreographer for the Tevakanui Polynesian Dance Studio in Las Vegas, NV, USA. She is of Tongan descent and hails from a line of cultural storytellers, as her great-grandfather Peni Tutu’ila Malupo was a Punake of the Kingdom Island of Tonga. Heu’s love for Polynesian dance, especially Tahitian ori, originated in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii: first inspired by her mother, and then extended under the instruction of Henry and Yvette George of Tevakanui.

Her dance resume expands to different profiles that have allowed her to come across different movement teachers and travel to places like Japan, Scotland, Tahiti, Canada and Mexico. Furthermore, Heu has earned accolades in the Ori setting with first place and Overall titles throughout her dance career and is gracious for the many opportunities to perform, compete, teach or judge on many stages. Her home base is Las Vegas, where she continues to teach and share her love for dance, with hopes to perpetuate the Polynesian culture to the best of her abilities.