From animation to live-action, choreographer casts hundreds of Pacific Islanders for Disney's 'Moana'

When it comes to the movement of the Pacific Islands, one choreographer has been with "Moana" since the first frame.

Tiana Nonosina Liufau crafted each and every move you see on screen, from animation to now live-action.

She cast hundreds of dancers from across Polynesia to bring the village of Motunui to life.

"We've been storytellers. We've been navigators. We've been warriors," says Nonosina Liufau.

It's a centuries-deep history she tells through dance.

The celebrated choreographer designed the dance movements for the animated Disney films "Moana" and "Moana 2."

For this live-action adaptation, Nonosina Liufau cast more than 200 dancers from across the Pacific Islands.

"From the world of animation to live-action, finally, I get to work with humans, and more specifically, my people," she says. "And we are seeing our faces on the screen. I love seeing my people being uplifted in any way, shape, or form, but what more beautiful way than dance."

Nonosina Liufa is also a cultural consultant and an associate producer on this live-action film.

"I've spent my whole life researching the different movements of the Pacific," she says, "When it came to something like this, a project like this, honestly, I feel like I've been training my whole life."

Nonosina Liufau is the Creative Director of Nonosina Polynesia in California, a studio founded in 1965 by her grandmother, Estella, who brought Polynesian music and dance from American Samoa to the United States.

This film celebrates her roots and dance traditions from Tonga, Tahiti, New Zealand, Hawaii, and across the Pacific Islands.

"We are seeing humans that carry last names of our ancestors, and if that doesn't grab you, and if that doesn't touch you, then I don't know what will," she says.

Disney's "Moana" is in theaters on July 10.

The Walt Disney Company is the parent company of this ABC station.