TUMON, GU — An estimated 300 eager audience members filled the Pacific Star Hotel Chamorro ballroom on Oct. 7 to watch Guma Bula Guinaiya, an up-and-coming cultural dance group, perform at their first annual dance recital.
Guma Bula Guinaiya, which means “House of Lots of Love,” was the group name gifted to Afaisen from Guam’s very own, Jesse and Ruby, and Master of Chamorro Dance, Frank Rabon.
“They said that it embodies who I am as a dancer of 20 years and now a teacher sharing my knowledge with my students,” said Donovan Afaisen, 25, founder of Guma Bula Guinaiya.
During the summer of 2016, on Liberation Day, Afaisen announced that he would be holding his first official practice for the group at the Toto Church community center. He wasn’t expecting many, if not anyone, to attend and was taken by surprise when more than 20 dancers showed up, ready to go. It’s been uphill since then, and that is how the group got to where they are today.
Camera’s flashed, people cheered, and the big, bright, smiles of the dancers graced the stage as they stood waiting to perform.
“At first, when I had my meeting with my recital committee, we agreed on only having 250 guests, which in the end turned out to be 300+,” said Afaisen. “And people were still calling for more tickets!”
Guma Bula Guinaiya is well-versed in Chamorro, Hawaiian, and Tahitian style dance. They opened the show with the Chamorro Bendision, “Sainan Mami,” capturing the hearts of the audience, who also sang along.
The Hawaiian and Tahitian segments of the show were also crowd favorites.
Amanda Cruz, 21, attended the recital to support her two nieces. “The Tahitian segment was definitely my favorite part of the show,” Cruz said. “Looking around and seeing the love and support from everyone in attendance proves that this first recital was a success.”
Jesse and Ruby, Hawaiian guitarist John Holi III and drummer John Holi IV are all family friends of Afaisen and musicians who played for the recital.
Core Values: Family and Love
Afaisen was only 5-years-old when he first started dancing. Having a group of his own has been his lifelong dream.
“When I saw that dancing offers many opportunities and opened many doors, it was clear that one day I would open up my own group,” Afaisen said. Watching his dancers perform was quite overwhelming because it was then that he realized his long-awaited dream had finally come true.
The dancers help bring his ideas and creations to life. Seeing how happy they are on stage doing what they love is one thing Afaisen enjoys most about being an instructor.
He built Guma Bula Guinaiya upon family and love, which although only formed a year ago, makes their foundation stronger than ever.
Whether you were a part of the group or an audience member watching from the crowd, you could not deny the admiration, dedication and commitment to dance shown on stage.
“Everyone seemed so passionate and proud to be a part of the group,” Cruz said.
Afaisen performed a special hula dance to close the show. His dancers and some in the audience shed tears as they reacted to his emotional performance.
Nicole Vitug, 16, shared her experience of dancing with the group. “It’s a very open and welcoming group and the encouragement we have for each other is like no other,” Vitug said. “We really are a family.”
