TE RAHITI NUI - RA'ATIRA'S
RA’ATIRA JANICE MINABE
Director
Aunty Janice began her dance career at the age of 3 in her native country of South Korea. There, she grew up performing ballet as well as Korean folk dance. When she immigrated to San Diego as a young girl she found herself being pulled toward Polynesian dance and joined her first group at the age of 13. Over the years she danced for various Polynesian groups and eventually joined Halau ‘O Na Ali’i in 1993, San Diego’s premier Polynesian dance company, where they won several group competition awards and received numerous accolades. It was at Halau ‘O Na Ali’I where Janice first met Michelle and their long lasting friendship and partnership began. Beyond Halau ‘O Na Ali’I, Janice and Michelle performed with Nonosina in Orange County. Nonosina is widely recognized as the premier Tahitian competition group in the world, where they consistently win top honors competing against groups from throughout the world.
RA’ATIRA MICHELLE LIMON
Director of Choreography
Aunty Michelle is an accomplished Polynesian dancer with over 30 years of experience. She started her dance career at the age of 3 with Halau ‘O Na Ali’i and performed with them for over 25 years. During that time she competed and won several solo awards at Tahiti Fete in San Jose, the premier Tahitian dance competition in the U.S., where groups from Hawaii and Tahiti come to compete. In 2001, Michelle was recognized and invited by Les Grands Ballet de Tahiti, the most prestigious Tahitian entertainment group in world, to study and perform with them in Tahiti. She spent one year performing with Les Grands Ballet in Tahiti which culminated in a performing tour at the Theatre d' L'Empire in Paris, France. Michelle then went on to perform with Nonosina in Orange County for another two years. In 2017, competing for TRN, Aunty Michelle was awarded Overall Soloist at Tahiti Fete San Jose competition. In addition to Polynesian dance, Michelle has studied several other Latin dance forms.
