Bernard Mangakahia -through "Mana", the spirit of Polynesia is proud to have gained an outstanding reputation as an entertainer and educator using as his media culture and the arts. It is his aim to inspire, educate and empower both children and adults and to create for them a unique and memorable experience. Bernard has a guiding belief about learning: "They may not remember what you taught them but they will always remember how you made them feel."

From a young age Bernard Mangakahia has performed in a variety of areas for over 30 years. As a child in New Zealand he performed with his family for 15 years and then as a teenager and young adult in Australia. The reader will be interested to know that Bernard's son, Jake, has recently been accepted into a full-time training program with the Australian Ballet School in Melbourne.

Bernard is a Polynesian born of a Maori father and a Fijian mother who has Native American ancestry. His desire to learn more of his heritage lead him to search out his ancestry which in turn influenced him to travel. "Searching genealogy can be an exciting experience but travelling to the countries of your ancestors is even more exhilarating." For Bernard, having lived in New Zealand, learning about Polynesia was quite easy, but more exploring was needed. This took him to the Polynesian Culture Centre on the island of Oahu in Hawaii. It was here that Bernard was tutored by the best dancers in the Pacific.

Bernard's search for his American Indian connections was more difficult and is still proving to be quite a challenge. It was during this search that, while at BYU University in the USA, Bernard came into contact with Garnet, a Canadian Indian who taught him the Hoop dance. It took Bernard 10 years to perfect this dance with XXX hoops. He can also do the dance with 22 hoops but admits to not having perfected the dance with 22 hoops... not yet.

Bernard has also worked in gyms as a supervisor, resistance training instructor, aerobic instructor and a personal trainer. A large percentage of this work has been with children. He also worked as a recreational camp supervisor for 4 years, providing school activities which involved team building, abseiling and high rope challenges. For another 4 years he worked at the Hyatt Coolum on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland as a facilitator for corporate activities such as team building, high ropes, night functions and games.