SPRINGFIELD – Last Wednesday, the Springfield Public Library and History Museum launched the 2026 Summer Reading Program with a free, multicultural event featuring Tahitian dance and storytelling by Anavai O Te Ora.
The traditional dance of Tahiti, ‘Ori Tahiti, was showcased and taught to attendees. Around 200 kids, families, and community members found shade under canopy tents in the library’s fountain plaza to learn about the cultural performance. Local daycares like Learning Tree and Head Start bussed kiddos to the event.
Anavai O Te Ora, the Tahitian dance group, was directed by Charlie Okada, who explained the significance of the dancers’ movements.
“For those of us that don’t know, we like to tell people that if you’ve ever been to a luau, the girls in the coconut bras and grass skirts, that’s us,” Okada said.
Young women dressed in black skirts and bandeaus with feathered headpieces and pearl necklaces danced barefoot to the rhythm of percussion instruments.
Dancers emphasized hip movements by snapping them from side to side or rotating them in wide circles, keeping their knees bent and shoulders still to maintain fluidity and rhythm.
“The reason we dance fast is that we’re excited about life, so the faster we dance, the more happy and excited we are,” Okada said. “We all dance to tell our stories. Not just our stories, our history, to pass down our knowledge, to pass down our traditions, and to pass down our values,” she said.
The dance symbolizes the connection between the Tahitian people and the land, with the legs representing the earth and the upper body expressing elements like wind and the ocean.
Anavai O Te Ora teaches dance classes for kiddos starting at age 4. Oliana Ieremia is only 8 and performed in front of a large group of kids close to her own age. She said she has been dancing for as long as she can remember and likes sharing her culture with others.
Auntie and Anavai O Te Ora art director Roxie Morales made Ieremia and the other dancers’ outfits. Morales explained that everything used to make the headpieces is typically sourced from Tahiti; however, modern attire includes supportive cloth. Woven leaves make the base of the headpiece, and rooster feathers stick out from the top. A mother-of-pearl sits delicately in the middle of the headpiece and complements the statement necklaces on each of the dancers.
“Whenever we make our costumes, we try to keep to the theme of what they’re dancing, so that it relates all into their entire costume,” Morales said.
An interactive dance opportunity allowed attendees the chance to learn some Tahitian moves. Around 30 kids ran up to learn how to move their arms like ocean waves and trees in the wind.
The event kick-started nine weeks of free multicultural programming hosted by the library and museum on Wednesday mornings from June 17 through August 12. The series celebrates arts, culture, heritage, literacy, and community connection through performances and interactive experiences from a wide range of cultures and traditions.
Mindy Linder, the library’s community engagement specialist, said starting June 22, Food for Lane County will provide free weekday lunches at the Library Plaza all summer for kiddos under 18 years old, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
“So you can come and visit the library, and then have a little picnic lunch up here. You can get a show on Wednesday mornings, followed by some free food,” she said.
Veselka Ukrainian Dancers from the Nativity of the Mother of God Ukrainian Catholic Church are the next performers in the summer series lineup June 24.
