Tuaopepe Tasi Keener (Keizer) is a Samoan dancer and musician. Keener, who learned dance from her mother in Western Samoa, followed in her mother's footsteps here in Oregon. Her dance troupe, Paradise of Samoa, performs a variety of traditional Pacific Islander dances, including Hawaiian, Tahitian, Maori, Samoan, and Fijian. Keener's other traditional arts include weaving, playing the ukulele, and singing.
Bio
Tuaopepe Tasi Keener is a Samoan dancer and musician who grew up in Western Samoa. Her mother, also a teacher and dancer, taught Tasi and her siblings traditional dances that they performed at events around the island. Keener and her musician husband, Craig, spent many years in Samoa but moved to the Salem area in 1999. Finding a lack of Samoan representation at local festivals and events, Keener founded Paradise of Samoa, which first had only her sister's children and her own. In 2006, they opened the group up to anyone who wanted to join, setting the stage for the large, diverse group that exists today. Keener teaches Hawaiian, Tahitian, Maori, Samoan, and Fijian dances to children, teens, and adults. Paradise of Samoa remains active in teaching Samoan and other Polynesian arts beside dance and those include fabric arts (elei) and music. Different Pacific Islander cultures tend to have somewhat different dance traditions. For example, Hawaiian and Samoan dances generally focus on hand gestures to convey the narrative, while Tahitian dances place more emphasis on hip movement. Maori and Fijian dances are more ceremonial and warrior-centered. Besides her role as a teacher and dancer herself, Keener, a talented traditional weaver and seamstress, makes costumes for the entire group. She often buys inauthentic Polynesian costume pieces in local stores and improves them in various ways, such as sewing and attaching traditional flower decorations. Tuaopepe Tasi Keener, who is also a vocalist and ukulele player, plays in a band with her husband and others. They frequently perform at the annual luau they host on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend in Keizer. In 2019, Keener was bestowed a Samoan high chief's (matai) title. That changed the presentation of her name to "Tuaopepe Tasi Keener", which identifies her traditional responsibilities in the Samoan culture.
