Festival at UH explores dance past and present

Dance from around the Asia-Pacific region takes a turn in the spotlight with the return of the Asia Pacific Dance Festival, which kicks off Thursday at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Traditional and contemporary dance from Korea, Tonga, Okinawa and Hawaii will be presented. Tim Slaughter, co-founder of the festival and director of UH Manoa’s Outreach College, said the festival examines how dances from past and present “reflect and borrow from each other.”

Slaughter and now-retired UH dance professor Judy Van Zile, an expert in Korean dance, developed the festival, which began in 2011 and takes place every other year.

“We always wanted to have it here, using Hawaii as a central focus of Asia and the Pacific region, with a long-term goal of becoming the premier festival of its type in this region,” he said.

Slaughter sees dance as an essential part of regional culture.

“It’s a way of demonstrating a group’s culture, how they represent themselves and communicate with outward society,” he said. “A lot of traditional dance grows out of folk art traditions, whether it’s a festival religiously associated, or farmers trying to get their crops to grow. It comes from a place in the earth … connected to life and everyday living.”

It’s also important to present contemporary dance, Slaughter said, to show how it is connected to tradition.

Watching the work of local contemporary choreographers working with traditional dances inspired him. “There’s so much unique, wonderful stuff that grows out of traditional (dance),” he noted. “Why don’t we juxtapose those two against each other and show people how dance doesn’t appear out of thin air, it grows out of something?”

The concepts are illustrated with the visiting dance group from the Korea National University of the Arts. Moonea Choi, program director of the university’s dance program, said much of Korean dance originates from the culture’s agrarian roots, with dances associated with harvest and sowing and prayers to the gods wishing for abundance.

Korean dance subsequently assumed religious significance with the advent of Buddhism and during the Three Kingdoms period (roughly the first 500 years A.D.), when it also evolved into a form of entertainment, said Choi, who will be attending the festival with the dancers.

Korean dance now includes Korean traditional dance, ballet and modern dance styles referred to as “creative” and “contemporary,” she said, with specific choreographers being associated with the modern styles. Korean schools with dance departments offer majors in each.

The dancers Choi will bring here will perform the gamut of dance now being taught in Korea, such as “Totbaegi,” a dance originally performed by men only, and “Composition 17,” a contemporary dance inspired by Russian abstract painter Wassily Kandinsky. Those dances will be performed in an Aug. 5 concert. An Aug. 6 concert will feature improvised dance and a creative dance inspired by a famous battle.

People interested in Pacific dance forms might be intrigued by the Kanokupolu Dancers of Tonga. The group was organized by Adrienne Kaeppler, a specialist from the Smithsonian Institute and a friend of Queen Nanasipauu of Tonga, who was instrumental in selecting the dancers. “They were brought together just for this event,” Slaughter said.

The festival includes panel discussions and presentations. Local dance groups get the early spotlight Thursday, with “Living the Art of Hula,” featuring talks with kumu hula Michael Pili Pang, radio personality Harry Soria Jr. and dancers Leimomi Maldonado and Kanoe Miller and their halau.

Traditional Okinawan dance group Jimpu Kai USA, led by respected sensei Cheryl Nakasone, follows that up July 30 with “Du usami: The Journey,” described as “a voyage into the heart of Okinawa’s artistic traditions.”

On Aug. 5 a Culinary Celebration highlights the food of Asian and Pacific cultures prepared by notable local chefs.

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EVENTS

7:30 p.m. Thursday: “Living the Art of Hula.” Performance and panel discussion, featuring kumu hula Michael Pili Pang, radio personality Harry Soria Jr. and dancers Leimomi Maldonado and Kanoe Miller and their halau.

2 p.m. July 30: “Local Motion! Okinawan Dance.” Hawaii-based dance group Jimpu Kai USA celebrates its 40th anniversary with “Du usami: The Journey,” described as “a voyage into the heart of Okinawa’s artistic traditions.” Free; pre-show discussion at 1:15 p.m.

6 p.m. Aug. 4: Welcoming Ceremony. Dance and music to greet guest artists, East-West Center Friendship Circle. Free.

5 p.m. Aug. 5: “Ike Hana I” and Culinary Celebration. Local chefs honor food and culture from Asia and the Pacific region, followed by a performance by hula halau Ka Pa Hula o Kauanoe o Waahila, led by kumu hula Maelia Loebenstein Carter; Kanokupolu Dancers of Tonga, led by Cotton Robusta Siale; and dancers from Korea National University of the Arts, 7:30 p.m. (Tickets for culinary celebration available only with purchase of dance tickets.)

2 p.m. Aug. 6: “Ike Hana II.” Ka Pa Hula o Kauanoe o Waahila, Kanokupolu Dancers from Tonga and dancers from Korea National University of the Arts. Pre-show discussion at 1:15 p.m.

4:45 p.m. Aug. 6: “Talk Story.” Discussion with resident company directors and dance critics. Free.