About Me
Maikalani means Sent from Heaven in Hawaiian.
Born and raised on the Big Island of Hawaii and now living, working and dancing in San Francisco.
Presently I do freelance graphic design with a focus on print media. I specialize in marketing collateral for a wide variety of companies from non-profits to high-tech coporations. I also design CSS websites and html newsletters. I am highly skilled in Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator and Dreamweaver.
Due to musical and theatrical parents, dance, theater and art were a big part of my upbringing and has greatly influenced my perspective on life. A study abroad in Mexico, led to a great appreciation and interest in Hispanic culture. In college, I fell in love with photography and the magic of the dark room. The combination of technical skills and artistic creativity needed for photography, was a good match for my sensibilities. Upon completing a Bachelors Degree in Art, and a minor in Spanish, I enjoyed a short stint of painting murals on gates and building sand mermaids at the beach until being hired as a photographer and graphic designer for a portrait studio in Honolulu. In this position I created a wide range of portraits in the studio with both film and digital cameras and became especially adept at "disappearing" imperfections in Photoshop with a quick and delicate hand.
I completed a Master's degree in Communication in December 2006. My education and experience now includes marketing, corporate communications, graphic design, web site design, studio photography and photo retouching.
Here are a few past and present employers and clients: MInted.com, West Elm, KLM Creative, Gyrobike, Intalio, Greenplum, INDX Strategies, Alma Latina Productions, Wailea Agricutural Group, Paradise Plants, and Hawaii Paralegal Association.
About Dancing
My love of dance began as a child when at the age of 9 was enrolled in Ballet classes. Throughout the years I continued to learn a variety of dances such as Modern, Jazz, African, Ballroom and West Coast Swing. In 1994 I signed up for my first Salsa class and was hooked. Salsa and Argentine Tango quickly became my two favorites dances. In 2001 I was invited to join my first salsa dance group, Son D'Hawaii and that same year we represented Hawaii at the West Coast Salsa Congress in Los Angeles. Soon after I became the co-director of the Salsa performance group, Aloha Rumberos Dance Company. My partner and I taught Salsa classes to adults and children as well as performed around Hawaii and in California.
Due to a shoulder injury I decided to take a break from Salsa and further pursue Argentine Tango. in 2007 and 2008 I traveled to Buenos Aires to continue my Tango education. While there I studied with top Tango instructors such as Rodolfo Dinzel, Lucianna Valle and Gustavo Naviera. In San Francisco, I have studied with Felipe Martinez, Andrea Fuchilieri, Homer & Christina and David & Mariana.
I have taught Tango classes in San Francisco with George Garcia, Gary Weinberg and David Caditz as well as performed in various locations in California and Hawaii.
View performances here:
Hard Rock Cafe in Honolulu, July 2011
Cafe Cocomo in San Francisco in March 2009
Class demo at City College in SF on Colgadas and Volcadas
About TangoTees.com
I love dancing Tango so much that I decided to design my own Tango T-Shirts. These are fun, witty and unique prints designed with the passionate tango dancer in mind.
Tango Tees will hold up well to hours of dancing and multiple washings. Select from the latest styles and colors. Each shirt is printed to order.
