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To help locally promote the October 2010 opening of the I-Lion Hawaii School, Sendai Ikuei's Cheerleading Team participated in the 31st Annual Pan-Pacific Festival in Honolulu.

Ikuei's Cheerleading is a big hit

The Pan-Pacific Festival takes place every year in Honolulu, where both locals and international visitors alike showcase their traditional performance arts. This year's festivities took place from June 11th to June 13th. While there were many taiko drum and hula dance performances, as one of the few cheerleading groups Ikuei's students generated a lot of interest.
The coach for the Ikuei Cheerleading team, Ms. Yukiko Akama, arranged their routine. "For our performance we wanted to use an Iconic Japanese song that audience members of all ages would enjoy." She said. "We ended up choosing the Dragon Ball Z anime theme, which ended up getting lots of positive feedback from the audience members. With our students at the event, it was a great chance to raise awareness about Ikuei's new school."


A Host Family Reunion

3rd year Foreign Language Course student and cheerleader Itou felt good about the Cheerleading team's performance at the festival. "Over the three days we were there, we all were very focused on giving a good impression for the school, even when walking down the street. We made sure to say hello and 'aloha' wherever we went, and I was impressed at how friendly the people we met there were." said Itou. While at the festival, Itou's old host family from her last visit to Hawaii came to cheer her on. "They told me that they were very impressed with the performance."

Meeting a Local Audience

"It was my first time performing overseas, so I was very anxious to see how the audience would react. I was a bit nervous but at the same time also very excited." Abe, a 2nd year Foreign Language Course Student, related her experience of going to the festival. "I felt that the people there were very empathetic, and when I rose up they rose up with me. I've never felt anything like that before." "Afterwards" said Abe, "I got to take pictures with the audience members and cheer together with the little kids. Everyone there was so warm and friendly; I will always remember my experience there. "

Hula Dance Team Performance

Shukoh students in the Ikiiki Hula Club also participated in helping to raise awareness of the I-Lion Hawaii School's opening. Along with Shukoh teacher Ms. Azumi, 6 students gave a performance over two days at the Hula Festival, wining a Spirit award from the judges.



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