A CRUISE to Fiji on board the Australia-based cruise liner Carnival Legend gave the Laqeretabua family of Hawaii a chance to meet relatives from Namata Village in Tailevu.
Atu Laqeretabua moved to Hawaii in 1984 after he was offered a scholarship to study at Brigham Young University, owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
A few years later he started his own family and yesterday was in Suva accompanied by his wife and two daughters Isabella and Bethany Laqeretabua.
Isabella, 13, and Bethany, 11, have followed closely in the footsteps of their father by becoming entertainers through dancing.
The sisters have been performing dances on board the cruiseliner, which is carrying 2653 people on board.
“We’re happy to be here and even more excited that our family from Ta’s (dad’s) village came here to meet us. We were here about one year, six months ago, so it’s nice to have a mini family reunion. Ta was a dancer himself, so much of what we do is from what he taught us and we have been dancing from a very young age,” Bethany said.
The young girls said their biggest challenge was trying to please the crowd while performing. Just like their father, the sisters can perform any Polynesian dance.
“Since we’re home schooled, we’re always looking forward to these kind of trips because we learn from other dancers when we visit other places,” Isabella said.
Their next stop will be New Caledonia, before French Polynesia, then to Maui in the US, before returning to Honolulu to end the trans-Pacific cruise.
