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FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Eric Wada performs in "Dance Quake IV."
Isle dance
eyes globe
It's producer-choreographer David Ward's dream to spread the diverse achievements of dance in Hawaii across the Pacific to points beyond.
It all started with his Dance Quake programs that were presented on interisland tours in 1995, '97 and '99. This year's Dance Quake IV returns after a four-year hiatus, during which time he concentrated on more modern dance collaborations with such artists as Peter Esperitu, Eva Lee and André Morissette. Ward felt the Dance Quake title only qualified for productions that involved cultural diversity.
David Ward's Dance Quake IV
Where: Leeward Community College TheatreWhen: 8 p.m. tomorrow
Tickets: $18 general; $12 students, seniors and military
Call: 455-0386
Also: 7:30 p.m. Mar. 6 at the University of Hawaii at Hilo Theatre
And this year's program is one he considers so strong that it could be the one that could be the first to be presented out of state. It's a program that focuses, in particular, on male dancers, and how they perpetuate and create within a virile, even masculine, art form.
A teacher at Seabury Hall on Maui, Ward will present, in his segment, three new choreographed works that are influenced by areas as diverse as Appalachia in the southern United States, Brazil and Persia.
Besides Ward's modern dance pieces, others will include Ben Arcangel's solo Javanese dance, Eric Wada's Okinawan dance and kumu hula Michael Pili Pang and Halau Hula Ka No'eau.
Ward believes the concept of Dance Quake gives local audiences "the opportunity to see different types of dance forms -- Okinawan, Javanese and hula -- on the concert stage, and look at them as very high artforms, like any other classical art, in their own right. It's to give Hawaii some pride in the calibre and artistic ability local people have."
FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
"Dance Quake IV" dancers each perform a unique cultural dance. From left, Ben Arcangel (Javanese), Eric Wada (Okinawan) and Michael Pili Pang (Hula).
A GRADUATE student of Maiki Aiu Lake and Mae Kamamalu Klein, Pili Pang will be merging his two schools of hula from Oahu and the Big Island for the first time and, in keeping with this year's theme, showcasing his kane.
"We'll be doing two pieces," he said. "The first reconstructing the ritual dance and movement for pahu, and a more contemporary second piece that incorporates Western dance called 'Retrospect of a Hawaiian Heart.'
"The first will showcase the drum dance genre of hula, the specific styling and technique ... where the steps we'll be using are unique to that style, like the aui and kauha'a. With the modern piece, we'll experiment with more descriptive movements. In hula, there are more arm gestures and use of the face. Here, we'll include body and postural movements. I got Robert Cazimero's permission to use his older collection of love songs for the dance."
With this year's Dance Quake, Ward said "I'm discovering that this particular format could be very sellable to on the mainland university circuit. What with ethnic dance programs on the rise, this could be an ambasador-type program that, I think, would be very interesting to colleges with those programs. I've produced dance programs for 17 years now, and I should know when you got something really good, and I think there's magic particularly with this program."
FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Ben Arcangel
FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Michael Pili Pang (Hula)
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