Your Dance Teacher: Pascale "Kuongaieie"

Pascale has been dancing in Tahiti since the age of 10 for groups like Temaeva de Coco and Manuia Tahiti. At 13 she won the title of Best Dancer. When she moved to Las Vegas, she started dancing for Maire Nui, then formed her own group, The "Royal Tahitian Dance Troupe". She later concentrated on Cook Islands dancing and performed for the Cook Islands Society.

My Cook Islands name is "Kuongaieie." which was given to me by Arerangi Tongia. There are two words to this name that are combined as one. Kuonga in Cook Islands means "a pet" or a "cherished one." and Ieie which means "pretty, beautiful, adorable, attractive, cute, nice looking, good looking, sweet, and appealing." Cook Islanders recognise the word "akaieie" more than the word "ieie" since the former is used more frequently than the latter. They both mean the same thing except that "Ieie" is a noun and by adding the prefix "aka", the "ieie" noun becomes an active verb or an action verb rather than a passive verb or an inaction verb. Kuonga is one of those old, archaic, and obsolete Cook Islands words.

Pascale is also an actress, script writer, show and film producer.