Retired Dance Lecturer
Philippine Dance
*In Memoriam
H. Wayne Mendoza, whose root is from Badoc, Ilocos Norte, Philippines, was an icon — as an instructor, choreographer, advisor, consultant, and a genuine master when it came to Philippine Folk dance. Recognized as a master dancer by the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts (SFCA), Wayne Mendoza’s journey in becoming a Master Dancer did not happen overnight. It took seven decades of learning and developing his skills, researching, teaching over 9,000 dancers and students, and hundreds of performances to get there.
Wayne was 14 years old when he got interested in Filipino folk dance. He began his dancing career in the late 50’s for Tito Cezar, who at that time promoted Spanish and Mexican dances.In 1958, Wayne joined “The Pearl of the Orient Dance Company,” a local Filipino dance group under the leadership of Pat and Orlando Valentin. The group performed at many events and festivals, including aboard the American President Lines S.S. Wilson and S.S. Cleveland. Stops included the Philippines where other dancers were picked up to join the Company. In 1962, Wayne took his first study tour to the Philippines to learn from the grandmother of Philippine dances, the renowned Francisca Reyes-Aquino, with whom he learned how to teach children and adults the forms and terminology of dance steps, how to count the measures of the music to create a rhythmic combination of footwork and arm movements. During the 60s, a dinner and show in Waikiki called “A Night in the Philippines” was offered every Monday at the Outrigger Hotel by Tradewind Tours. Due to its popularity, the show was moved to the Monarch Room of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, and it became a nightly show that lasted more than a decade.
When the 70s came around, Wayne was asked to be the choreographer for the Company. In 1975, Wayne was hired by the University of Hawaiʻi in Mānoa in the Department of Theater and Dance as a Lecturer and Instructor for the CR/grade course Philippine Dance 307/407. Wayne also served as consultant, advisor, and choreographer to several dance groups and pageants on Oʻahu, Maui, and Big Island, and did workshops at Iowa University, George Mason University, University of Virginia, and at Loyola Marymount University in California.
In the 80s, Wayne branched out of Pearl of the Orient and formed “Himigbayan” a dance troupe that not only performed Filipino folk dances, but also created a lecture program that explained the evolutions of these dances. Wayne, along with a few dancers, performed dances and gave lectures at elementary schools, senior centers, hospitals, and public venues throughout the State. For years, he shared his passion for the arts as an accredited Dance Master of Philippine folk dance under the SFCA where he mentored several apprentices including Lorena Barbosa of Himigbayan; Lawrence Pascua of La Galeria on Maui; Elsie Saribay of Bailes de Pilipinas in Lahaina; Tessie Cabral of the Philippine Cultural Group on Oʻahu; Michael Javines of Bullalayaw on Oʻahu; and Millie Asuncion of the Hilo Cultural Group. In 1982, the SFCA sent Wayne and another Master Dancer, Hannah Trinidad with the Pamana Dance Company, to the Philippines to further their dance studies and to bring back home what they learned to teach others.
Wayne taught and lectured at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa for 40 years. Wayne received a Lifetime Achievement Award for his significant and outstanding contributions to the Filipino community, to Hawaiʻi, and to the world with his passion for and knowledge of Philippine folk dance and culture. Wayne passed away at the age of 80 on January 26, 2023 in Honolulu, HI.