Ray Fonseca (dancer)

Rae (or Ray) Fonseca (November 17, 1953 – March 20, 2010) was an American hula dancer and hula master.[1] Fonseca established the Halau Hula O Kahikilaulani in 1980,[2] a Hilo-based halau.[1]

Fonseca was a student of kumu hula master George Na'ope,[1] who gave Fonseca the name, Kahikilaulani.[2] Fonseca's halau, Halau Hula O Kahikilaulani, integrated Hawaiian culture, language and folklore into its hula instructions.[1] The hulau had more than 100 students, who ranged in age from 4 up to 60 years old, as of March 2010.[1]

He pleaded no contest to second-degree negligent homicide in 2006 for killing a moped driver in a traffic accident in 2003.[1] Fonseca was driving 40 mph in a 25 mph speed zone when he struck the moped with his sports utility vehicle while trying to avoid potholes.[1] The judge sentenced him to six months in prison, but allowed work release during the day for community service and to teach hula.[1]

On March 20, 2010, Fonseca flew from Hilo to Oahu to perform at the Lei o Lanikuhonua Hula Festival in Ko Olina.[1] He was a strong supporter of the festival, which was founded in 2006 and allows high school students to perform and study with hula masters.[1] He collapsed back stage minutes after completing a hula performance.[1] Fonseca, who suffered a heart attack, was 56 years old.[1]

Fonseca's death came less than a day after the passing of another prominent hula figure, Auntie Dottie Thompson, who developed the Merrie Monarch Festival.[3] He had visited her at her bedside before her death.[1]