Wings of change

Doomsayers are predicting the end of the world on Dec. 21, 2012, the end of a 5,126-year cycle in the Mayan calendar, but Cheryl Flaharty isn’t afraid of the prophecies. For one thing, she believes people may be interpreting the end too literally.

The artistic director of IONA Contemporary Dance is delivering her own interpretation with the presentation of the troupe’s fundraising production, "Maya: The Return of Quetzalcoatl," at 6 p.m. Saturday at Sheraton Waikiki’s Helumoa Pool.

In Mayan mythology, Quetzalcoatl is the winged serpent viewed as a harbinger of change, and anyone who’s been conscious in the past decade is certainly aware of turmoil of natural and man-made causes ranging from typhoons and tsunamis to war in the Middle East, political unrest, the roiling of financial markets and widespread unemployment.

"You can see there is this huge transformation in the world, which is shifting and changing so rapidly," Flaharty said. "Quetzalcoatl is said to be a winged serpent, but I really wondered how he would show up this time. Maybe the new era really began with the falling of the (World Trade Center) twin towers (on 9/11). It was not the end of the world but became a marker of great societal change."

Sami L.A. Akuna will portray the serpent in the production, which every year becomes more extravagant. At a costume fitting in IONA’s Kailua headquarters, Akuna towered more than 9 feet tall on stilts and with headdress.

His costume, and that of a giant hibiscus, are so expansive it’s conceivable a dancer might inadvertently sweep a guest into the pool, but Flaharty said that hasn’t happened so far.

"I had a whole tableful of guests in the pool (during 2008’s "Atlantika" at the Kahala Hotel) once, but they jumped in themselves."

"I’m usually so big people get out of the way," Akuna said.

Another attraction this year is the Mayan-inspired menu "Eclipse, a Taste of Apocalypse" by Sheraton Waikiki senior executive sous chef Colin Hazama that will include ceviche with coconut guacamole mousse, Tikin Xic pescado (grilled onaga with achiote adobo), spiced cornmeal churros, horchata tapioca pudding, pineapple mint fritters with Mexican hot chocolate, sangria and more.

IONA’s fundraisers started simply in 1992 as a dinner at Cafe Sistina featuring 12 dancers. But over the years, the fundraiser has grown to the point of becoming IONA’s second original production of the year, introducing 10 to 15 new characters annually. The cast of "Maya" numbers 30, including Mayan calendar boys representing astrological signs and giving guests their 2012 forecast, a walking tequila sunrise and Ma­yatai, a Milky Way living fountain and five masked aerialists.

Given the ambitious costuming, it’s hard to believe Flaharty and her staff of volunteers don’t have formal costume training, but because the costumes are a shorthand for getting her ideas across, "you imagine it, you make it," she said, while figuring how to attach a flat-screen television and battery pack onto Akuna’s costume to make a point about the overwhelming presence of technology.

Flaharty had known about the 2012 prophecy for years, but after giving the production its theme she delved into Daniel Pinchbeck’s "2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl," chronicling the Mayan and Hopi prophecies, as well as José Arguelles’ interpretation of the 13-moon Mayan calendar. Arguelles believes the commonly used 12-month Gregorian calendar is artificial and puts humans out of step with nature’s calendar.

The prophecy may be a nonevent, like Y2K and more recently the no-show Rapture, but Flaharty said it doesn’t help to be complacent, because society continues to evolve as technology evolves to deliver new ways for people to deal with one another.

She believes recent fears are a good thing if they lead people to more humanitarian ways of thinking, feeling and dealing with problems.

"We’ve been led by left-brain technology and corporate America at the expense of the soul. Now the soul will come first and bring us into the time of the artist," Flaharty said. "The arts have always been about creating work that speaks to humanity. We’re like the prophets of the world, so no matter what happens, we’ll just keep on doing what we’re doing."