[ WEEKEND ]
FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Amber Ricci, left, and Rea Fox will be singing songs made popular by Billie Holiday during the "Speakeasy, Speakout!" event.
The ’20s
are backWomen power takes center
stage this weekend
"I don't know why I should / He isn't true / He beats me, too / What can I do?
Fund-raiser for women's empowerment
Girl Fest Hawaii presents "Speakeasy, Speakout!"Where: Studio 1 Art Gallery, 1 N. King St.
When: 8 p.m. Sunday to 2 a.m. Monday
Admission: $7 to $20 (sliding scale, pay what you can afford), 18 and over
Call: 945-0996
"Oh, my man, I love him so / He'll never know / All my life is just despair / But I don't care / When he takes me in his arms / The world is bright / All right"
Rea Fox is singing these telling lyrics from a song made popular by Billie Holiday back in the late 1930s. She and about 30 people are gathered to show a united front as performers, artists, organizers and staff for this weekend's Girl Fest event called "Speakeasy, Speakout!"
As the title hints, Sunday's get-together "will be a theme party, focusing in and around The Roaring '20s," said co-executive director Kathryn Xian. "It was a time of Prohibition, women's suffrage and getting the right to vote, plus a time of great style and art.
"It's pertinent that we look to the past and see how sexism developed from that point on. While it's not as bad as it was back then and in years past, our aim is to get rid of it altogether -- and sometimes it's problematic to keep change substantial."
Four different artistic mediums will be presented, ranging from the premiere of a short documentary from New York City's Women Make Movies, "GRRLYSHOW," about female fanzines, to music, dance, spoken word and the visual arts.
"This is a big group that's involved with this event -- and we all work for free, with 100 percent of the money going to benefit the Safe Zone Foundation, committed to stopping violence against women and girls through educational and multimedia events like this. Everyone is equally invested in this, both personally and professionally," she said.
FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Yumiko Seki from Aquaria Salon will donate her hair and makeup skills for the event. She's also Girl Fest's zineletter editor-in-chief.
"The verses in the song 'My Man' wouldn't be acceptable nowadays," Fox said, "and singing this song at 'Speakeasy Speakout!' I feel will address the problem of violence against women. Our consciousness needs to be constantly raised."
BUT there will also be a fun side to the festival at downtown's Studio 1 Art Gallery. Fellow jazz singer Amber Ricci will be doing another popular Billie Holiday number, "Let's Do It (Let's Fall in Love)." "It's filled with all kinds of sexual innuendos," she said with a smile. "I love anything that has to do with empowering women."
Skeeter and Cocoa Chandelier from the infamous House of Chandelier will be doing excerpts from "Chicago" -- in drag, of course -- and then Cocoa will revert back to his alter ego as Sami Akuna when he performs with his modern dance collective Glinko Marischino.
"I've always liked a lot about The Roaring '20s," Akuna said. "It's a classic look, very androgynous, what with the short hair, big flowers and long legs."
Xian said there will also be a legal casino room and free '20s styled hair and makeup stations provided by sponsor Aquaria Salon.
FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Some of the entertainment includes dancing by Sequoia Carr-Brown.
Xian also wanted to mention the generous financial support for all of the Girl Fest events that were planned throughout the year and into February 2004, particularly from prominent businesswomen in town as Beti Ward of Pacific Air Cargo, Geralding Hayes of Office Pavilion and Honolulu Weekly publisher Laurie Carlson.
"It shows we're not alone in our efforts," she said, "and weren't afraid to reach out for monetary help. These women make up a nice representation of the corporate sector."
Building on the foundation laid down by the first, successful, more urban-styled Girl Fest back in May and this Sunday's event, upcoming festivals include the Medusa's Ball in December and a more theatrical event in the works for February of next year.
"It's all about building a movement," Xian said, "and it takes time for people to digest what was presented before and to build anticipation for the next event.
"We're always looking for artistic and interesting ways to get out as much information as possible, to educate and entertain. And we accomplished that in the first Girl Fest.
"The thing is, we're not club promoters, and it's not our intention to compete for already laid-out territories and ownerships of other club events around town. Instead, we want to bring everyone to one celebration and join our movement to make everywhere safer for women and girls. We want to work with all artistic communities," she said.
FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Some of the entertainment includes performances by Skeeter, left, and Cocoa Chandelier.
"An event like this is a good way for young girls to get involved," volunteer Laura Dunn said. "It's good that we're also trying to appeal to younger women who are bombarded by Victoria's Secret-like imagery, and find a group of women and men that they can identify with."
SO WHAT ELSE can you expect at "Speakeasy, Speakout!"?
Spoken word performances will begin around 9 p.m., with Kasi Nunes from Rebel Girl Underground, Hawaiian Ryan, Selah Geissler and Kealoha from the popular 1st Thursday's Poetry Slam doing the honors.
Dancer Sequoia Carr-Brown describes her piece, "Nigaa of the World," as "exploring the female role in society, the reconnecting of the mind, body and spirit, as well as the tensions of being a modern woman." She'll be combining the music of Strauss and No Doubt's "Just a Girl."
"Addiction" by Christine Berwin is a choreographed work by Yeun Kyung Kim. The stark piece, Berwin admits, "is a bit depressing, but it does have a positive message. I think art has a particularly strong voice in communicating educational goals. I also think dance is able to hit a little bit closer to home because it goes right to the subconscious."
Music will be provided by the returning Sisters In Sound collective (playing "less dance-oriented, more mellower jazz stuff," according to DJ Marloca) and veteran rock club band Missing Dave. "Co-executive director Rebekah Long from Girl Zone and our soundman at the Wave 'D.' really wanted us to do this," said member Keith Monzen, "so we're planning to do an eclectic mixture of metal, rock and hip-hop -- all for a good cause."
FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Some of the entertainment includes music by Missing Dave, who includes, clockwise from left, Dave Letarte, Daena Dempsey, Keith Monzen, Jozi Cristobal and Mel Azama.
Visual arts will be provided by the projected images of Nobuko Oyabu (back for a second viewing from the first Girl Fest) and photo-artists Elea Dumas and Kim Kinard. Both will be showing their newer work. While Kinard's photography depicts women in a grittier, intense, yet dream-like vision filled with saturated colors, Dumas' images from her "Women Who Dream in Color" collection are a bit more realistic, if decorative.
"It's all the states and conditions of femininity," Dumas said. "The angry, the sad, the beautiful, the sexy and the violent."
Click for online
calendars and events.
