CityView Magazine

CityViewNC.com | 13 her students will come up to her standards," says "Auntie" Cecille Guerrero, 74, the senior "Hula Girl." Guerrero's husband, Sonny, is the only male dancer in the group. Rivera doesn't hesitate when asked about the hula dancers participating in the 44th International Folk Festival on Sept. 23-25 in downtown Fayetteville. e celebration will be back aer a two-year hiatus because of the COVID pandemic. She says the Hula Girls will be dancing and waving from a float at Saturday's Parade of Nations down Hay Street, beginning at 9 a.m. ey plan to perform on Saturday and Sunday during the festival. Rivera is happy that she's been transparent about the cancer journey on her Facebook page, in large part to ask for prayers. She included posts about the heartache over losing her long, flowing black hair. But then she decided, "I will adapt." She has chosen to mostly not wear wigs and let the silvery gray pop out naturally in her short 'do. She kind of likes it now. Just as the art of hula is about storytelling — "how we move our hands and hips, our facial expressions," she says — her personal story is unfolding in real time. Even when she feels like life is all too surreal, it always comes down to the dance. In 2004, while her husband was stationed with the Army in Colorado Springs, Rivera was homesick. at prompted her to start the dance troupe and later bring the concept to Fayetteville aer Jorge, who is now retired, was transferred to Fort Bragg. ere have been dozens of dancers over the years, ranging in age from about 4 to 74. On July 11, the dancing stopped temporarily aer Rivera underwent a unilateral mastectomy and the removal of three lymph nodes. en she received some disappointing news: e surgery didn't get all the cancer cells. Beginning this month, Rivera is scheduled to undergo five to six weeks of radiation treatment. Aer she underwent a mastectomy, Rivera had a drainage tube and was not "allowed" to dance. She worked the music and talked — a skill she admittedly has mastered — while the rest of the troupe practiced and performed locally. Once the drainage tube was removed in early August, Kui and Jorge headed for Virginia Beach, Virginia, for Polyfest, a festival that showcases some of the best Hawaiian and Polynesian dancers in the country. "It was beautiful, and I had a great time," says Rivera, who stepped out of her comfort zone to perform solo there. "She is very resilient, very determined as a hula teacher that Kui Rivera, right, the founder of Aloha Ka'naka O Hula Halau, has taught hundreds of dancers over the years. Among them are, from left, Cecille Guerrero and Syreeta Jackson. The dance troupe is scheduled to perform at this month's International Folk Festival. Opposite page: Kui Rivera.

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