The cast of Moana was split into three groups: the villagers, the ancestors and the ocean. My task was to make complete costumes and accessories for 38 young people, ages 10-14 years old.

There was a whole crew of students behind the scenes fashioning the beautiful ei's we see here on the heads of three actors. Ei' is traditionally a garland of flowers or sometimes fronds of tapa that holds great significance for the Cook Island culture. Each flower and plant frond holds the beauty and symbolism of the season and place where it was picked and fashioned into a crown. Each crown in this production of Moana Jr. was made by a student with plastic flowers gathered from the plastic flower outlet in Sunset Park.

I had two great mothers of the cast helping me grade the patterns and cut the fabric: Anjali and Roberta. I couldn’t have done it without them! The village ensemble pieces were dyed with madder, a root historically used for winter dying that produces a beautiful pink to red shade. The village motifs range from fantail birds or tīwaiwaka to wharariki or flax. I was able to use rainwater for some of the dye pots, hoping to honor the practice of ancestral living that is central to Polynesian culture.

I used woad to dye the skirts and tops for the ocean ensemble made from vintage sheets and fabric to achieve the effect of being underwater. The top motif is rimu or seaweed and the bottom is eel or tuna.

The kids were so amazing to work with and I loved finding cool spots in the school to take their portraits in their costumes. We took portraits in the gym, library and hallways. This project was incredibly fulfilling thanks to the cast and crew of Moana!

For the ancestor ensemble I had the opportunity to hand paint sheets with iron and coffee pigments. I was really inspired by the Tapa cloth of Samoa and wanted to magnify the designs found on the bark cloth often invoking the beautiful tension between growth, protection, the land and familial legacy that makes life possible.

I wanted to explore other avenues of achieving a grass skirt that would remain loyal to the central principles guiding my process for this project: honoring the season, honoring the resources available, and making the most of the materials I had around me I made this skirt to look like the mature leaves of the flax plant or wharariki. I cut the leaves from vintage sheets I’d dyed with turmeric and hand dipped the sides into red acrylic paint, then I hand painted the natural stem line and attached them to antique cotton tape.

An ei' made for the adornment of an Ocean Ensemble actor made by a young student from the prop crew.

upclose video of the beautiful flora and fauna of Aotearoa (New Zealand) recorded in 2018. If you listen closely you can also hear the beautiful array of rare birds and insects that inhabit the enchanting island.

a pamphlet I produced and handed out at the show to contextualize the costume pieces and outline special facts about each and every one of the Polynesian islands.