Seeking Miss Earth Hawaii
Aureana Tseu (middle with lei) with some of the Miss Earth Hawaii contestants: Elizabeth Viernes, Jhordan Joshua, Elise Maclean, Rachel Pershin and Leah Austin
Island beauty Aureana Tseu is a queen of many talents. She’s an entrepreneur, hula dancer, choreographer, show director/producer, costume stylist, TV host, model and much more.
A Kamehameha Schools graduate now living in Japan, where she founded Aureana Productions, Tseu was home earlier this month to promote Miss Earth Hawaii, for which she serves as executive director. The pageant, to be held Sept. 1 at Ala Moana Hotel, is the preliminary to Miss Earth United States and Miss Earth and is open to women age 18 to 26 with an environmental platform.
“We are an organization that is more about promoting and encouraging ambassadors of the environment than a beauty queen,” says Tseu, 29. “Miss Earth Hawaii becomes an ambassador and spokesmodel for our environment and an educator on how we can better protect our aina; hence (our motto) Beauties for a Cause.
“What we all do today environmentally affects our Hawaii for future generations. The idea of Miss Earth Hawaii is a person who is truly passionate about her Hawaii and how she can contribute to keeping this place a paradise.”
Prior to becoming involved with Miss Earth Hawaii, Tseu, who is a former Miss Hawaii Teen USA, Miss Oahu Filipina, Miss Hawaii Filipina and Miss Hawaii USA titleholder, says her summer was already busy. Each year in Japan she produces Polynesian-based musicals, as well as cultural educational workshops for organizations and individuals. Her upcoming production is called Nostalgia Hawaii and transports the audience to a time period that put Hawaii on the map. She also is working on her second solo concert, which debuts in August, with a second show in October.
She also is one of the head stylists for Japan’s largest distributing company of hula fashion and costuming, while also serving as its cover model. And she’s on tour with various Hawaii musicians throughout the summer.
But when she was approached by the national director of Miss Earth to bring Miss Earth Hawaii to the Islands for the first time, she couldn’t resist.
“Because of its emphasis on the environmental cause, it felt very Hawaiian to me,” she explains. “The idea and concept of malama ka aina is something that people in Hawaii are very familiar with, especially myself, coming from a cultural background.
“Being a native Hawaiian and a hula practitioner, I am a strong believer in sustainability. Hawaiians were the pioneers of this concept, practicing and developing water and food ecosystems (ahupuaa and fish ponds), that its people were able to cultivate and live off of the land.
“As a child of hula, I was taught that what I take is what I give back, meaning the flowers and lei used should not be thrown away, but rather returned to the land. I also am passionate about e malama i ka wai, take care of the water, from keeping our beaches clean to conserving water. And I am involved with Tower Gardens, which is an aeroponic system that allows one to grow their own produce while conserving water.”
Application deadline is Aug. 1. Tickets to the pageant are $45. For more details, visit MissEarthHawaii.com.
