THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, June 21, 1996 TAG: 9606190168
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 04B EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JENNIFER BENNETT, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: 80 lines
Rather than going to Hawaii to learn hula dancing, area residents can just go to Kempsville.
That's where Hermie M. Serna has her music and dance arts center, and it's where she teaches dances from Hawaii, as well as Tahiti, the Fiji Islands, Samoa and New Zealand.
``I always tell people we just came from Hawaii, . . . Chesapeake,'' said Serna, a native of the Philippines. Although Filipino instead of Hawaiian, Serna knows her dances. Her husband, Paul Serna, a Mexican-American born in Texas, does, too. They can distinguish the kahiko (the ancient hula) from the auwana (the modern hula) and from the bird dance.
Serna learned the hula when she attended her 4-year-old daughter's dance class in the Philippines. The teacher, whom Serna credits for much of her knowledge of Polynesian dancing, invited her to join. She hasn't stopped teaching, or learning, since.
Her Kempsville studio is stocked with coconut hats, brilliantly colored grass skirts, exotic musical instruments and keyboards. Serna, also a professional piano instructor, teaches about 50 dance students from 4 and up, and as many piano students, she said. It hasn't always been so.
When she and her husband moved to Chesapeake from Florida, they turned their garage into a studio. As business increased and they needed more space, they decided to open a studio in Virginia Beach because that's where most of their students lived.
Her pupils have twisted and shimmied at parades, festivals, weddings and in parks, malls and universities. People are never too old to learn, she said. ``Even if you're 60, 70 or 80, you can still wiggle.''
Though her students in colorful costumes grab center stage, Serna's forte is piano instruction. She began studying at home when she was 5 and later studied at the State University of the Philippines School of Music, the ``Harvard'' of her country. Through the years she won numerous competitions.
She taught piano as a teenager and in college she taught for a while in exchange for room and board and for pocket money. She decided she would pursue teaching rather than performing.
``I love music. I love dance. I love children. I love to teach,'' said Serna, the mother of five. ``I don't lose my energy when it comes to teaching. I love to teach.''
But she was able to realize her dreams of performance through her daughter, Jocelyn Jewell, who made a public piano debut at the age of 3. Recognized as a child prodigy, her daughter made more than 200 concert appearances in the Philippines before the age of 12.
Many of Serna's local piano students have also won piano competitions.
Her husband, Paul, became involved in her musical interests after they met in Olongapo City in the Philippines, which is near a former United States military base where she was teaching Americans. A retired Navy electronics technician and instructor, he now helps her manage the Virginia Beach school full time - sometimes beating the drum for what he calls his ``hula babies'' or working behind the scenes.
``I do almost everything. I built everything in the studio - the floors, walls, hangings, panting, backgrounds, props,'' he said. ``I'm a driver and a drummer.'' He sets up the sound system and teaches and choreographs poi balls exhibitions. The softball-size white cotton balls attached to colored twine are used in dances by the Maori people of New Zealand.
Together, the Sernas interpret the words to the Hawaiian songs. Hermie Serna develops most of the choreography. Each year, they travel to Hawaii and the Philippines to keep up with the latest trends in Polynesian dancing, so they can pass it on.
Serna herself is also a member of numerous professional organizations such as the Music Teachers National Association, Virginia Music Teachers Association, Tidewater Music Teachers Forum, National Federation of Music Clubs, Virginia State Federation of Music Clubs and a former member of the University of the Philippines Symphony Orchestra. MEMO: For information on the H.M Serna Music and Dance Arts Center and
Hawaiian Boutique in Lake James Shoppes, call 366-5181. ILLUSTRATION: Brittany Dominisac, left, Espie Poquiz, Kathryn
Sinclair and Andra Marr demonstrate Tahitian dancing at a festival.
Paul and Hermie Serna travel to Hawaii and the Philippines each year
to keep up with the latest trends in Polynesian dancing. Among their
students are Espie Poquiz, 4; Darlene Balbiran, 14; and Kelly Jones,
14. by CNB