Post #814831 by AcmeTiki on 01/25/2025

The Tahuna Polynisain Dancers gave a special 1966 New Years Eve performance at the Denver Tiki Kai.

I tracked down a couple of their promo brochures on Ebay. Here's a description of their show:

"The show has several high spots, the most dramatic of which is a samoan fire-knife dance by Tahuna. For minutes he throws a blazing, razor-sharp machete as though it is a baton, drawing the flaming knife across his body and tossing it in the air. Some say he does the best fire-knife dance around...

The main feature of the production takes place towards the middle of the show when Mike Tahuna does his burning knife dance.

He enters the stage area carrying several flat blocks of wood and a long machete knife. He places the wood on the floor of the stage, sets it on fire and then dances in the flames.

This is followed by other dance steps and then while on his back, he takes the knife, which has been set ablaze, and places it on his bare left foot and keeps it there for a half minute.

While the people in the audience watch in utter amazement, he puts the still burning knife on the floor and passes his back through the flames twice."

Shameless plug... You can read all about the history of Denver's Tiki Kai in the new issue of the Denver Tiki Times: https://acmetiki.com/product/denver-tiki-times-issue-no-4/

[ Edited by AcmeTiki on 2025-01-25 10:24:50 ]