Fia Fia at the Ihilani
Over the past year, I’ve had a run of luck when winning random prize drawings — I’ve been winning hotel stays around the island. No joke! I even stuck my hand into a pile of envelopes and won a night’s stay at the Moana Surfrider. So this weekend, I’m using my JW Marriott Ihilani Resort prize, since it’s about to expire.
While I’m out here, I thought I’d check out what they have. So last night, I went to their new Fia Fia luau show, which they have every Thursday night. “Fia fia” is Samoan for “celebration,” and they do a good job of projecting that. Here are a few (yes, a few) highlights of the luau. Oh, and my fabulous hotel room!
As promised, here’s the video of Jennifer Lieu and Lena Hanson doing a Tahitian demo:
Paradise Cove was my client a long time ago, so it was interesting to me to see how this show is different. Whereas many luau shows are Hawaiian-based and take you around the Polynesian triangle, Fia Fia’s most notable difference is that it’s Samoan-based. They still take you around Polynesia with luau standards like “The Hawaiian Wedding Song,” Tahitian hula (as seen above), and Maori poi balls, but they performed other numbers that I had never seen before.
One other element that stands out is their fire dancing, which the entire male troupe gets into. Most luaus bring out one, maybe two fire knife dancers; Fia Fia makes it a huge, spectacular production.
If you’d like to go, it costs $45 for children 3 to 11 years old, and $90 for adults. There are kamaaina rates available, just ask. We did!
Fia Fia show
JW Marriott Ihilani Resort & Spa
92-1001 Olani St.
808-679-6209
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You can read all of Melissa’s blogs at www.nonstophonolulu.com/urbanmixplate. Follow Melissa on Twitter@Melissa808, on Foursquare as Melissa808, or email at Melissa@nonstophonolulu.com.
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