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Mention “Lahaina” and musical trivia experts will reference the 1973 album track by Loggins and Messina, or perhaps Kui Lee’s loving tribute to “Lahainaluna.” Everyone else knows Lahaina as the site of the 2023 wildfire that killed 102 people and destroyed more than 2,200 buildings in one of the most devastating wildfire events in modern U.S. history.
Maui resident Kisha Stewart wants people to also think of Lahaina as a place where young people develop life skills and healthy lifestyle habits through dance and cheerleading. Stewart took a 24-member dance and cheer team from Lahaina to California in March for a performance dancing in the All-Star Spirit Extravaganza down Main Street in Disneyland. They’ll return to Disneyland for an encore performance April 25.
“We want to put Lahaina back on the map for good reasons, and for people to see how resilient the community is,” Stewart said in a recent telephone conversation. “Cheer(leading) is a sport. It can be very intensive, and it’s not just about going out there and yelling. There’s a lot more to it. As a cheerleader, you have to be responsible for not just yourself and your teammates, but for your environment, for representing your team or town. That’s what being a cheerleader truly means.”
Stewart speaks from personal experience. Growing up on the East Coast, cheerleading and dance were her favorite sports activities in school. Stewart never achieved her childhood dream of being one of Janet Jackson’s backup dancers or becoming a doctor, but she was a competitive cheerleader for five years, danced professionally in New York for 17 years, and eventually became a nurse and moved to Hawaii.
In 2024, the Maui Pop Warner sports program decided to revive the long- dormant Lahaina cheer squad and asked for community members with cheer experience to serve as volunteer coaches. Stewart stepped forward. So did Cici Hernandez, who had similar credentials.
“When the season was over, that was the fall of 2024, I discovered that coaching had truly reignited my passion,” Stewart said. “I had forgotten how much dance and cheer meant to me when I was younger, and I recognized that without cheer and dance, I wouldn’t be the person that I am. I would have not found myself.”
Hernandez felt the same way. They started the K&C Cheer and Dance Academy of Lahaina as a year-round cheerleading and dance program, Stewart said, “because here in Lahaina on the west side, after the fires and everything, so many different activities for the keiki were gone.”
Stewart and Hernandez started the academy in January 2025, with nothing – no “seed money,” and none of the usual equipment. One of the local schools rents them the use of the school athletic field for practices.
From a chance meeting at a cheer conference in July (2025) came the invitation to perform at Disneyland. A GoFundMe page and community fundraisers brought enough money to cover the team’s travel expenses for both trips.
Looking long term, Stewart wants to find a permanent home for the academy in Lahaina .
“I’m trying to instill in the girls the work ethic that’s needed to be successful,” Stewart said. “I’m 45 years old, and I’ve been through quite a lot in my dance and cheer career, but I’ve kept myself very active, and when we teach, CC as well, we tell the girls, ‘If we can do it still at our age, we’re in our 40s, then there’s nothing that you can’t do.’”
Stewart adds that “can’t” is not in the cheerleading vocabulary.
“We tell them that they cannot use the word ‘can’t,’ that we never, ever want to hear them tell us that they can’t do something because they can. They might just need a little more practice, or we might need to teach it to them differently, but they can do anything that they put their minds to, as long as they work hard at it.”
Stewart mentions that cheer is a recognized college sport, and that some universities have scholarships for cheerleaders (The University of Hawaii currently sets aside between 12 to 14 full scholarships for cheerleaders).
Cheerleading also can lead to other opportunities. Long before Paula Abdul was a chart-topping Billboard Hot 100 recording star and “American Idol” judge, she was a “Laker Girl” cheerleader and the group’s head choreographer. Abdul’s big break came when the Jacksons saw her performing with the Laker Girls and hired her to choreograph a music video — and then another, and then another after that.
Back in Lahaina, Stewart says emphatically that the K&C Cheer and Dance Academy welcomes boys and young men (age 5-17) as well.
Visit
Continue reading...
Maui resident Kisha Stewart wants people to also think of Lahaina as a place where young people develop life skills and healthy lifestyle habits through dance and cheerleading. Stewart took a 24-member dance and cheer team from Lahaina to California in March for a performance dancing in the All-Star Spirit Extravaganza down Main Street in Disneyland. They’ll return to Disneyland for an encore performance April 25.
“We want to put Lahaina back on the map for good reasons, and for people to see how resilient the community is,” Stewart said in a recent telephone conversation. “Cheer(leading) is a sport. It can be very intensive, and it’s not just about going out there and yelling. There’s a lot more to it. As a cheerleader, you have to be responsible for not just yourself and your teammates, but for your environment, for representing your team or town. That’s what being a cheerleader truly means.”
Stewart speaks from personal experience. Growing up on the East Coast, cheerleading and dance were her favorite sports activities in school. Stewart never achieved her childhood dream of being one of Janet Jackson’s backup dancers or becoming a doctor, but she was a competitive cheerleader for five years, danced professionally in New York for 17 years, and eventually became a nurse and moved to Hawaii.
In 2024, the Maui Pop Warner sports program decided to revive the long- dormant Lahaina cheer squad and asked for community members with cheer experience to serve as volunteer coaches. Stewart stepped forward. So did Cici Hernandez, who had similar credentials.
“When the season was over, that was the fall of 2024, I discovered that coaching had truly reignited my passion,” Stewart said. “I had forgotten how much dance and cheer meant to me when I was younger, and I recognized that without cheer and dance, I wouldn’t be the person that I am. I would have not found myself.”
Hernandez felt the same way. They started the K&C Cheer and Dance Academy of Lahaina as a year-round cheerleading and dance program, Stewart said, “because here in Lahaina on the west side, after the fires and everything, so many different activities for the keiki were gone.”
Stewart and Hernandez started the academy in January 2025, with nothing – no “seed money,” and none of the usual equipment. One of the local schools rents them the use of the school athletic field for practices.
From a chance meeting at a cheer conference in July (2025) came the invitation to perform at Disneyland. A GoFundMe page and community fundraisers brought enough money to cover the team’s travel expenses for both trips.
Looking long term, Stewart wants to find a permanent home for the academy in Lahaina .
“I’m trying to instill in the girls the work ethic that’s needed to be successful,” Stewart said. “I’m 45 years old, and I’ve been through quite a lot in my dance and cheer career, but I’ve kept myself very active, and when we teach, CC as well, we tell the girls, ‘If we can do it still at our age, we’re in our 40s, then there’s nothing that you can’t do.’”
Stewart adds that “can’t” is not in the cheerleading vocabulary.
“We tell them that they cannot use the word ‘can’t,’ that we never, ever want to hear them tell us that they can’t do something because they can. They might just need a little more practice, or we might need to teach it to them differently, but they can do anything that they put their minds to, as long as they work hard at it.”
Stewart mentions that cheer is a recognized college sport, and that some universities have scholarships for cheerleaders (The University of Hawaii currently sets aside between 12 to 14 full scholarships for cheerleaders).
Cheerleading also can lead to other opportunities. Long before Paula Abdul was a chart-topping Billboard Hot 100 recording star and “American Idol” judge, she was a “Laker Girl” cheerleader and the group’s head choreographer. Abdul’s big break came when the Jacksons saw her performing with the Laker Girls and hired her to choreograph a music video — and then another, and then another after that.
Back in Lahaina, Stewart says emphatically that the K&C Cheer and Dance Academy welcomes boys and young men (age 5-17) as well.
Visit
Continue reading...
