About Us
The Company
In 1993, Akemi Welsh started Polynesian Paradise (PPD), a professional Polynesian entertainment company specializing in the traditional dances and music of the Polynesian Islands.
Over the years, the company has had the honor of sharing the culture with audiences all over. PPD has visited 40 states, performing on stage at venues such as Freneticore Dance Theatre, Houston, TX, Artcore Inc., Casper, WY, Wiltern Theatre, Live Nation, Los Angeles, CA, Westchester 1 Community College, Smart Arts, Valhalla, NY, Delaware Tech, Georgetown, DE, Cartwright Center, LaCross, WI and Koger Center for the Arts, Columbia, SC. They have done 10 international tours including exotic Abu Dhabi, China, Japan, Guam, and the Marshall Islands.
Past performances include a daily 5-week run of the "Lilo & Stitch Hawaiian Party" at the El Capitan Theatre (Hollywood, CA) and nightly 8-week run at the Pageant of the Masters (Laguna Beach, CA), and the Silver Dollar City World Festival (Branson, MO). PPD has also performed for the celebrity red carpet premieres of Adam Sandler's 50 First Dates (Westwood, CA), and Disney's animated feature Lilo & Stitch (first in Hollywood, CA then at Elvis Presley's Graceland in Memphis, TN) in which our company director was hired as a consultant for the project. Polynesian Paradise Dancers can also be seen dancing in Adam Sandler's movie Bedtime Stories, and television shows as Glory Days, Backyard Nation, Tuckerville, My Tacky Room, Wizards of Waverly Place and Marie. Other highlights include performances at the Playboy Mansion, Walt Disney Studios, Paramount Studios, the homes of celebrities such as Rob Zombie, former mayor of Los Angeles, Jim Hahn, and former governor of California, Arnold
Our Resume
Our touring company has performed in 40 States, 10 international tours, several TV shows, and countless special events.
Interested in having polynesian dancers perform at your next event?
Staff
Akemi Welsh
Director
Akemi Welsh graduated from the Orange County High School of the Arts -Musical and Theatre Conservatory. With a passion for the arts she has studied various forms of performing arts such as: jazz, ballet, tap, mime, singing and musical theatre. During her professional dance career Akemi performed with Long Beach Classical Ballet and the Southern California Dance Theatre in several productions of the Nutcracker and other modern works, Classical Opera with Professor Chao Mei Pa the co-founder of the Shanghai Conservatory, was casted as the role of Liat in 5 productions of “South Pacific” including a national tour with John Rait and Jack Jones, she has also held roles as Eliza in the “King and I” and the role of Pocahontas in a Taiwan tour. In addition to winning numerous awards as a dancer and singer, Akemi has produced over 42 national and international tours and counting.