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UH Mānoa ballroom dance club reflects on defending national title

Hawaiʻi Public Radio | By Maddie Bender
Published April 24, 2025 at 4:22 PM HST
Michaella Villanueva competing at a ballroom dance competition.
Gregory Snyder
/
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Michaella Villanueva competing at a ballroom dance competition.

Hula takes the stage Thursday night at the 62nd annual Merrie Monarch Festival in Hilo, beginning with the Miss Aloha Hula competition.

As we celebrate artistry and tradition, we thought we'd highlight another group of award-winning dancers competing at the highest levels.

The ballroom dance club at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa recently defended its title at the National Collegiate DanceSport Championships in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

HPR spoke to three members of the dance club. Andrew Lin and Michaella Villanueva are both students at UH. Ravi Narayan is the club's president, coach, and a computer science instructor at UH.

From left to right: UH students Andrew Lin, Michaella Villanueva, HPR's Maddie Bender, Synthia Sumukti and Ravi Narayan.
HPR
From left to right: UH students Andrew Lin, Michaella Villanueva, HPR's Maddie Bender, Synthia Sumukti and Ravi Narayan.

This interview aired on The Conversation on April 24, 2025. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. 
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The Conversation University of Hawai‘iDance
Maddie Bender
Maddie Bender is the executive producer of The Conversation. She also provided production assistance on HPR's "This Is Our Hawaiʻi" podcast. Contact her at mbender@hawaiipublicradio.org.
See stories by Maddie Bender
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