Born in Los Angeles and raised in Honolulu, Beverly Noa studied with Louise and Nona Beamer and Iolani
Luahine. She was chosen as Miss Hawaii in 1952. Her first
professional appearance was at Don The Beachcomber's as a featured dancer for two years. She was the solo
dancer at the Royal for 12 years, appeared with Ed Kenney at the Hawaiian Village's Tapa Room and at the
Sheraton Waikiki, and danced at the Hawaiian Regent Hotel luau shows and in the Dick Jensen show at the
Cinerama Reef Towers Polynesian Palace. She has also been a professional model.
Beverly has toured Japan, Europe and the mainland and has worked with Haunani Kahalewai, Marlene Sai and
Nina Kealiiwahamana. Beverly exemplifies the one unique quality of dancing hula; unlike most dancers whose
careers are short, the great hula dancers only seem to get better with time. The style may change to a more
languid one, but the expressiveness, presence and interpretation grow over the years. She proved this in her
most recent performance with Tony Conjugacion and Karen Keawehawaii at the Hawaii Theatre on February 8,
2002, with her stunning performances of "Lovely Hula Hands"--a dance everyone does but few do well--and
"Silhouette Hula" as it should be done--in silhouette.
Biographical material from Tony Todaro, The Golden Years of Hawaiian Entertainment (Tony Todaro Pub., 1974).
