About Drums of Polynesia
Key Takeaways: Drums of Polynesia is a cultural production company located in South Florida, providing authentic Polynesian entertainment for corporate events, resorts, country clubs, and private celebrations. Our cultural ambassadors combine live dance, music, storytelling, audience participation, team-building experiences, and catering services for clients throughout the world.
When the drums start pounding, Drums of Polynesia brings authentic performers, live music, cultural storytelling, audience participation, and tropical production into one complete event experience. We help clients turn their ideas into polished Polynesian celebrations that feel exciting, welcoming, and grounded in the cultures we represent.
The experience starts before the first dancer enters. Thoughtful Luau event planning connects the audience, venue, performers, décor, catering, schedule, and budget.
From elegant island entertainment to a large production, every detail supports the feeling you want guests to remember.
Based in Pompano Beach for almost 30 years, Drums of Polynesia is owned, operated, and directed by RJ Rewi and his team of South Pacific cultural ambassadors. Our Polynesian production company serves South Florida and travels throughout the United States, the Caribbean, and around the globe.
Our Mission Is to Share Polynesian Culture
Our mission is simple: share authentic Polynesian culture through entertainment, education, hospitality, and audience connection.
Polynesia is not a single culture or performance style. It includes distinct peoples, languages, music, dances, stories, and customs. Our cultural mission guides how we represent those traditions and welcome guests into the experience.
We want people to feel the culture and have a good time. That may mean a lively celebration filled with roast pig, Mai Tais, music and movement, a learning experience, or some of each. Respect and inclusion stay at the center of the production.
Our Story Began in New Zealand in 1975
Our roots date to 1975, when RJ began performing with a family group in Greytown, in New Zealand’s Wairarapa region. The group presented Family Polynesian shows at local family and regional events that created an early foundation in cultural performance.
The work continued in Australia, where RJ performed at community events and took part in education programs across the New South Wales state school system.
He also traveled to Japan, lived there, and eventually made his way to Florida.
RJ Rewi, The Late Uilani Kam, and Leialoha Granados founded the Florida company after working at the Mai-Kai in Fort Lauderdale. The wider local team members also brought experience connected with the Walt Disney World Luau and SeaWorld’s Makahiki Luau.
That history explains the two timelines people sometimes see. The original family group began in New Zealand in 1975. The South Florida company was later reborn and has now operated from the Pompano Beach area for almost three decades.
Those roots continue to shape our company background, our standards, and the way we serve clients.
Meet RJ Rewi and Our Cultural Ambassadors
RJ is a descendant of the native Māori of Aotearoa, New Zealand, and has a Whakapapa (family Bloodline) back to Ngāti Kahungunu. He began performing professionally as a teenager and went on to work as a performer, cultural educator, producer, and director in several countries.
His experience includes touring programs, school presentations, resort productions, and live shows for varied audiences. That background helps him read a room and shape a production around the people in it.
Our original Florida crew included artists from across the islands. Today, our team includes seasoned talent from many parts of the globe.
Together, our cultural ambassadors present Māori, Hawaiian, Samoan, Tahitian, Tongan, and other Pacific traditions through music, movement, costuming, language, and storytelling.
The cast changes with the event. A small gathering may call for a few selected performers. A large function may need dancers, musicians, fire artists, guest activities, catered meals, and a full visual production.
What Makes Our Productions Authentically Polynesian?
Authenticity comes from the instruments, songs, dances, cultural knowledge, and delivery. It also comes from explaining what guests are experiencing as the program moves from one island tradition to another.
Traditional movements carry stories. Drum rhythms set a pace that guests can feel. Costumes, music, language, and choreography add cultural context.
Our goal is to create the right experience at every budget. A smaller program can still offer a meaningful taste of home and culture. A larger production can fill the setting with drums, hula, fire, color, and participation.
| “We create THE TRUE POLYNESIAN EXPERIENCE with the elegance and shine of who we represent.” – RJ Rewi, Owner and Director – Drums of Polynesia |
How Our Luau Event Planning Works
The show may look effortless, but the preparation behind it matters. We take time to learn what the client wants and how the event needs to function.
Our process usually includes:
- Discussing your audience, goals, venue, budget, schedule, and preferred atmosphere.
- Reviewing the site when the space, staging, entrances, sound, fire, or décor calls for closer planning.
- Selecting the right performers, music, activities, catering, production elements, and visual pieces.
- Coordinating timing, setup, entrances, audience flow, safety needs, and breakdown.
- Adjusting the program for the age group, event type, available space, and level of participation.
A client may arrive with a complete vision or a loose idea. We shape it around the location, audience, and practical needs.
Corporate Events With a South Pacific Twist
For corporate events, we can create anything from refined reception entertainment to an interactive tropical production. Programs can support employee appreciation nights, conferences, client gatherings, awards dinners, company celebrations, retreats, and product launches.
Our corporate event productions can include dancers, drummers, musicians, cultural demonstrations, guest activities, fire performances, and large visual installations. The format can stay formal or invite the audience to participate.
This kind of South Pacific entertainment can match the brand, audience, schedule, and setting. We focus on hospitality, reliable timing, clear communication, and a strong finish.
Haka Time for Team Building
Our sister company, Haka Time, offers guided Haka workshops and company programs that reflect the Māori values of unity, strength, purpose, and collective energy.
This approach to team building asks people to use their voices, movement, and focus as one group. RJ explains the cultural meaning, then guides an experience suited to the workplace and occasion. With continued strategy planning to create a better team by measuring and monitoring your employees’ work behavior, we continue with the village survival and teamwork success agenda over the next 3-6 months as we guide your team to better performance in the workplace. You will be amazed at the results. What’s the Time? HAKATIME!
Country Clubs, Hotels, and Beach Resorts
Country clubs, hotels, and resorts need entertainment that fits the property and its guests. A private club dinner may call for graceful music and dance before an energetic finale. A beachfront resort may want a larger program that draws families into the action.
We tailor island entertainment for member celebrations, resort activity calendars, poolside programs, holiday events, private dinners, themed weekends, and repeat seasonal bookings.
Our Work With the Jungle Queen
The Jungle Queen Riverboat has welcomed Fort Lauderdale visitors since 1935. Our work on Ignite the Night brings our cultural ambassadors to its Tropical Isle stage for a recurring dinner-and-show experience.
Our “Ignite the Night” Polynesian show combines drumming, conch shells, Tahitian dance, Samoan fire-knife performances, cultural storytelling, and a fire-lit finale. Our team develops the choreography and costume work while presenting each tradition with the context that gives it meaning.
This partnership shows our ability to coordinate with an established attraction, perform for changing audiences, and deliver a consistent large-scale production.
Families and visitors from around the globe receive an exciting introduction to Polynesian culture in one of Fort Lauderdale’s most recognized waterfront settings.
We can work with existing event teams, food and beverage departments, outside planners, and venue staff.
Our client testimonials include praise from PGA National Golf and Sports Club, the American Cancer Society, ANSPACH, and the Greater Miami Mardi Gras. Clients have recognized our artists’ knowledge and the way our team handles a crowd.
Performers, Music, and Audience Participation
The right cast depends on the feeling you want to create. Our entertainment options can be arranged as focused features or combined into a complete production.
Hula and Island Dancers
Our hula dancers bring storytelling, color, and guest participation into the room. A program may also include Tahitian dance, Māori performance, Samoan traditions, and other forms.
Fire Performers
Fire dancers create a powerful visual finale. We consider venue rules, performance space, surfaces, clearances, weather, and audience placement before including fire in a program.
Drummers, Musicians, and Singers
Live Polynesian drummers and musicians establish the energy. Drums, ukulele, vocals, and conch shells can support a quiet arrival, staged performance, or lively entrance.
Interactive Guest Experiences
Guests can learn hula movements, try rhythm activities, join selected dances, play cultural games, or follow a demonstration. We adjust participation for the audience.
Tiki Décor That Changes the Setting
Décor gives the performance a frame. Our Tiki décor rentals can transform an entrance, ballroom, pool deck, lawn, beach area, or event tent before the first performer appears.
The inventory includes eight-foot Tiki figures, ten-foot Tiki poles, Moai heads, an Aloha entrance, decorative panels, Tiki huts, volcanoes, waterfalls, surfboard art, and themed bars. The Easter Island bar measures 12 feet long and eight feet high at the sides. These large pieces create an immediate visual statement for arriving guests.
We can use a few focal pieces or build a fuller setting. The décor, performers, lighting, and sound connect the experience from arrival through the final number.
Luau Packages, Education, and Private Celebrations
Our customizable Luau packages can support weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, Bar and Bat Mitzvahs, holiday parties, graduation celebrations, school programs, and community gatherings.
We also offer cultural education programs for schools and youth groups. These programs use observation, discussion, movement, music, and participation to help students connect with Pacific cultures in an active way.
Food service can be added when it fits. Cuisine supports the production, while entertainment, décor, education, and hospitality remain at its heart.
You can also view event photos to see how different casts, venues, and production elements come together.
From South Florida to Events Around the Globe
Pompano Beach is home, and South Florida has shaped our company for almost 30 years. We know the practical differences between a Fort Lauderdale hotel ballroom, a Deerfield Beach oceanfront property, a Boca Raton country club, a Delray Beach private event, and a Miami company venue.
We also serve Palm Beach County and other Florida communities. Local experience helps us plan entrances, sound, décor setup, fire options, and audience flow around the property.
Our work is not limited to Florida. We have carried South Pacific entertainment from New York and the Caribbean to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and other destinations. We travel where the budget can support the cast, transportation, lodging, equipment, and schedule.
Why Clients Trust Our Team
Trust comes from doing what we said we would do. We bring decades of experience, cultural knowledge, preparation, and respect for budgets and time frames.
Each production fits the event rather than repeating a fixed routine. We account for the age group, setting, schedule, audience size, venue, and desired interaction.
Our standards include:
- Accountability from the first conversation through breakdown
- Credibility rooted in cultural and professional experience
- Hospitality that makes guests feel included
- Clear attention to budgets and schedules
- Reliable communication with clients, planners, and venues
- Custom pricing based on performers, duration, travel, décor, and production needs
No event is automatically too close, too far, too large, or too small. We find the right combination of talent and production for the space, schedule, and budget.
Questions About Working With Us
Who Owns and Directs the Company?
RJ Rewi owns, operates, and directs the company with a team of South Pacific cultural ambassadors. Ulani Kam and Leialoha Granados joined RJ as the original Florida founders.
What Types of Events Do You Produce?
We work with company functions, country clubs, hotels, beach resorts, weddings, birthdays, Bar and Bat Mitzvahs, schools, community groups, holiday parties, and private hosts.
What Does Luau Event Planning Include?
It can include event design, cast selection, cultural programming, entertainment, audience activities, Tiki décor, staging, timing, sound coordination, site review, and related production logistics.
Can You Customize the Show for Our Audience?
Yes. We adjust the cast, pacing, cultural content, interaction, duration, and production scale around your guests, venue, goals, and budget.
Can We Book Performers and Tiki Décor Together?
Yes. Many clients combine dancers, drummers, musicians, fire artists, interactive elements, and large decorative pieces to create one connected experience.
How Far Will Your Team Travel?
We serve South Florida regularly and travel across the country and internationally when the event budget supports the production requirements.
How Is a Production Priced?
Pricing depends on the number and type of performers, program length, décor, equipment, travel, setup, venue conditions, and other production needs.
Bring the True Polynesian Experience to Your Event
Let Drums of Polynesia create an experience that fits your people, property, and purpose. Tell us about your date, venue, audience, budget, and vision, and we will help shape the right combination of culture, entertainment, décor, and participation.
Contact our team to start the conversation. We look forward to meeting you, working with you, and bringing the energy and hospitality of Polynesia to your next event.
Just click here and click the Book Now button or give the Jungle Queen a call at (954) 462-5596.