By Nicholette Marbley
When an old classmate of mine shared that she knew a Polynesian dancer, I jumped at the chance to speak with him. Gideon Mana Lorete is the entertainer everyone should know when I watched one of his videos and could feel the warmth of the flame on my skin. Polynesian dancing is something I have never seen before. Gideon’s story is, by far, the most vibrant and extravagant tale that I have ever been told. Born on the island of Saipan alone is an experience that most individuals never hear. Lorete’s childhood is beaming in different island cultures. Every week there is a cultural art festival celebrating the dances of Polynesia, Tahiti, Micronesia, and Asia. Gideon Lorete is a phenomenal dancer, and dancing does not even scratch the surface of his activities. Gideon currently teaches Chinese students how to speak English through VIPKids International. Reading this article, you will experience the exotic life of Gideon and the many hats he chooses to wear and pour into his heart and soul.
Gideon Mana Lorete is a 26-year-old Micronesian of Chamorro descent. The dancer was born to Generoso Guittierro Lorete and Jeannette Thorpe and has three half-sisters and a half brother. Lorete enjoys acting, singing, fire dancing, listening to podcasts, reading, camping, swimming, hiking, horseback riding, being in nature, traveling, eating, dining, boating, watching movies, and adding new things to try. He is surprisingly trying to get a new snake to take care of, after already having a busy schedule. Lorete’s father passed away at the age of 15 after two years of living in the US. From there, Gideon attended Westlake (for roughly a year) and Bay High School, where he joined Cleveland’s Singing Angeles and performed in various states and including New York City, which is still a cherished high school memory of his.
Gideons love for his country inspired him to attend Baldwin Wallace and perfect the art he grew up learning. Lorete has always been a competitive person in all aspects of life. He grew up participating in spelling bees and science fairs (he won first place a couple of times). The Forensic League, an organization that shaped his life, is where he got introduced to storytelling. He competed against all schools all over the Island of Saipan. During his time in the Forensic League, and got the honor to watch the production, “South Pacific.” The hysterical production made him realize that storytelling is what he wanted to pursue for the rest of his life. The funniest thing about how Lorete got his start in dancing is that he found Tekana’ “Hau Nui,” a Polynesian Dance School. Lorete’s most memorable moment of performing at the school was playing for the new sailors on US Navy Base, who just arrived on the island.
After graduating high school, Lorete enrolled in Baldwin Wallace, where he was deemed the news director for the college radio station WBWC 88.3FM and managed a team of eight people. He graduated with a BFA in Acting and Dance with additional studies in Multimedia Entertainment. Lorete’s long experience in the entertainment industry allowed him to act and produce throughout his young life, building quite the resume along the way and developed the skills to become a professional Polynesian and Firenesian Dancer, a film actor, and a theatre actor. Being a triple threat in the entertainment industry will get you very far. Lorete has landed jobs playing a standardized patient for the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute, and preformed for Spectacular Party Entertainment (who collaborates for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland Zoo, and IX center). From there, he played the Grinch, Peter Pan, Alladin, Spider-Man, and woody. He then branched off and went back to his roots, being a featured performer and fire dancer for “Pacific Paradise “(Cleveland’s Polynesian Dance Group.) His IMBd credits include portraying Jose Louis in “Rescate,” playing a mercenary in “Wu Xai II,” playing a vampire in “Harbinger,” and playing Eddie in “My Summer In Ohio.” The film premieres this May at the Capitol Theatre. The most impressive thing on this seasoned entertainer’s resume is owning his own dance company (Mana Firenesia Entertainment). He eventually wants to go back to Oceania and spread his stories and experiences with dance. (I can’t say I blame him! Just google his native country. It’s beautiful!!!)
He gave me an exclusive insight into what he’s working on that he has not yet shared on his social media. Lorete is a student at a musical theatre intensive with the Stella Adler Studio in NYC. He will move to New York if all goes well. Gideon Mana Lorette hard work was shaped him into more than just an actor. He is an entertainer.
I will leave you with a quote from Gideon that I feel we all need to embody.
“Forget all expectations of who what or where you were supposed to be, including your own. The heart is the closest thing we understand, so trust it and go! There you will find the utmost importance, the why, and how.” Gideon Mana Lorete exudes Nirvana and Fire
