​Ha'amana | to empower

Huraiti Mana is a Seattle-based Polynesian Dance Troupe specializing in 'Ori Tahiti, Hula, and Lei. We are a feminine and indigenous-led, intergenerational, neurodiverse and culturally rich community filled with laughter and shared stories. Led by founder and Ra'atira, Kalei'okalani Matsui, we foster cultural pride and empower each of our huraiti, our beloved dancers, in mind, body, and spirit. 

Our mission is to reconnect everyone to their culture and original identity through ancestral philosophy and movement of the Indigenous Pacific so that we may all recognize the homes within our hearts. 

At Huraiti Mana, we provide weekly Tahitian Dance and Hula instructional classes with choreography connected to ancient meaning; offer lei-making workshops weaving tradition; and foster Mo'olelo & Mana'o Moments, storytelling around identity, re-indigenization, and more. We invite all who would like to find a place of belonging. 

Welcome home. 

Te Mau Ta'ata Arata'i i te Pupu | troupe leaders

Ra'atira Pupu, Group Leader - Kalei'okalani Matsui

Hō'ē Mahana, Assistant Instructor - Andrea

Pūpahu, lead dancer - Katie

Sound Technician, Merchandise Director - Kitman

Alaka'i & Kaikua'ana, Lead Hula Instructor and Older Sister - Ku'ulei

Te 'Ahu Arata'i, Lead Designer - Amahalea

Metua Arata'i, Lead Parent - Aunty Jessie

Te Mau Fa'atere 'Upa'upa, Lead Musicians - Ben & Sashya

Ha'api'i | to teach, to learn

'O Kalei'okalani Matsui he wahine Hawai'i, Kepanī, Pākē a me 'Apelika. 'O Wai'anae kona 'āina hānau a ke noho 'o ia ma Seattle. He Ra'atira no Pupu 'Ori a Hula 'O Huraiti Mana 'O Kalei. Kalei'okalani (Kalei) is a Native Hawaiian, Japanese, Chinese, and African American mother and wife and was born and raised in Wai'anae, O'ahu, living now in Seattle. A multi-racial teaching artist and indigenous culture bearer, Kalei is the ra'atira of Polynesian Dance Troupe, Huraiti Mana. She began dancing at six years old with Lokelani Polynesian Revue in Nānākuli. Kalei continued training with Polynesian Dance Troupe Mā'ohi Nui, performing and competing professionally both internationally and in island-wide Heiva under Agnes Manumā and Mervyn and Joanne Lilo. She also trained with the Kamehameha Schools Kapālama Campus Hawaiian Ensemble with Kumu Kaleo Trinidad and with Aunty Makalapua of Hālau Hula O Kaleipuaimilia Moku. Since moving to Washington in 2009, Kalei led classes with many organizations across Seattle. She created original 'ori Tahiti and hula at Seattle University for the Hui 'O Nani Hawai'i club for 7 years. Kalei opened Hula Mai 'Oe, an after-school program as a Master Teaching Artist through Arts Corps, an organization providing equal opportunity for creative programs in schools addressing race and income-based opportunity gap in access to arts education, engaging them in conversations and practice of community, identity, and racial equity. She also taught with Families of Color Seattle (FŌCS) as a part of the FOCSarts program, providing multi-cultural arts classes for toddlers. Kalei'okalani is the 2017-2018 recipient of the Jubilation Foundation Fellowship Award, granted to teaching artists with exceptional talent for helping young people feel fully alive through rhythm - as expressed in music and dance; as well as a 2023 4Culture Arc Artist Fellow supporting Indigenous Artists in King County. With Huraiti Mana, Kalei opens her independent teachings publicly to students of all ages, learning from each and instilling in each significant values of cultural exchange and identity. As well as Ra'atira (leader), Kalei considers herself ha'api'i, a word of reo Tahiti (Tahitian language) meaning both to teach and to learn. As Kalei continues teaching, she learns and gains tenfold, the knowledge of her huraiti, her cultures, and her self. Kalei aspires to continue teaching, studying, and sharing the love of her people. ​

Organizations we love

• 4 Culture
• 4 Days of Aloha
• 21 Progress
• API Chaya
• API Heritage Month Celebration
• Arts Corps
• Chief Seattle Club
• Duwamish River Festival
• Duwamish Tribe
• Families of Color Seattle
• International Community Health Services​

• ​​International Examiner​
• ​Jubilation Foundation​
• Live Aloha Festival
• Northwest Folklife
• Rainier Beach BAAMFest
• Seattle Asian American Film Festival
• Seattle Children's Festival
• Seattle Poi Company 
• Sharon H. Chang
• ​The Meridian School
• UTOPIA
• ​Wing Luke Museum

"Long was my journey on the path to seek a place in this world. I now clearly see and understand the home within my heart.”

"He Hawai'i Au" by Ron Rosha & Peter Moon

​Established 2016 Seattle, WA 
© HURAITI MANA [email protected]

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Photography by Sharon H. Chang