Living a life
of dance
Kamakoa Page’s passion
began at age 3
Saturday is the day of rest for Kamakoa Page. It's the one day of the week that she isn't on the go from dawn until late in the evening -- or even later.
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In the afternoon and early evening, she teaches ballet at Hawaii Starshine in Hawaii-Kai, "sometimes until 8 p.m." On weekends she performs as a go-go dancer "doing my ballet instead of the hip-hop dancing" at Pipeline Cafe and Zanzabar, and sometimes also as a high-fashion model in late-night nightclub fashion shows at the W and the Wave Waikiki.
This month, on top of all those other commitments, Page has been squeezing in rehearsals for her showcase performance this evening, when she'll appear with Peter Rockford Espiritu's Tau Dance Company in "Kamau Pono VII," a fund-raiser for Tony Conjugacion and his Halau Na Wainohia, at the Hawaii Theatre.
"I really enjoy dancing with Tau because Tau does hula and modern together. ... The first show we did together (several years ago) was called 'Cultural Slam.' All different kinds of dance slammed together in this one show. We did a dance called 'Sakura' that was kind of Japanese but with ballet in it. It's really cool the way Peter brings things together."
Page will be dancing classical ballet tonight during one of Conjugacion's numbers.
"His voice is so amazing (that) when he was singing to me in rehearsal, I forgot to go on. When I went on, I totally forgot all the steps and was just making things up. It was just a rehearsal, but I was so excited that we had that connection."
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DANCE HAS been Page's passion for most of her life. She started dancing ballet at 3, quit after 10 years ("When you're 13, you kinda want to try other things"), then decided five years later she'd made a mistake and picked up where she'd left off. It wasn't easy, but she made up for the lost time, got back into the Hawaii Ballet Theatre's annual performances of "Nutcracker" and eventually spent four years dancing as a Sugar-Plum Fairy.
"I think after not having it for so long, I realized I really missed it, and when I got back and saw all the other girls I'd grown up with, it kind of pushed me to work hard, and I worked really, really hard. I feel now like I've danced every part I wanted to do in ballet."
Page also explored other types of dance, working with the Tau Dance Company. In 2000 she appeared in Conjugacion's cross-cultural "TC2000" music video.
Page says she's always found it easier to lead rather than follow.
"I've always had my own style that I put into (ballet). I was taught you put your own mark on it. When you're in the corps de ballet, everybody has to be totally in sync with each other, and I had a really hard time with that. I was trained to do my own thing, so that was a challenge for me and I didn't enjoy it at all. It's beautiful, but corps work is actually harder than being a soloist.
"This will be my first year not doing 'Nutcracker,'" she says, adding that ballet dancers generally have a short life as performers. She's already had two operations on her left foot to repair dance-related injuries, and decided after her year in the Pittsburgh Ballet that she didn't want to spend the rest of her life dancing ballet.
"Being a dancer, you're always going to be injured. You really put a lot (of stress) on your body. Ballet is a full-body workout, but your body is not made to do the things you're making it do. Modern is not as beautiful as ballet, I think, but it is more organic and natural. I still really miss toe shoes and the tutu, and Peter always uses me on toe. I love that.
"When I was in Pittsburgh, I realized how much I missed home. The principal dancers were so amazing ... and then they'd come off the stage and be so upset with their performances. They were never happy, and when I'd think of the hula, those dancers were always so giving and loving. The ballet didn't have that."
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PAGE UNDERSTANDS why girls might want to pull away from dance about the time they're discovering boys. Now single after amicably ending a five-year relationship with a local celebrity more than 20 years her senior, Page's current schedule leaves her little time to stay in touch with friends, let alone embark on another relationship. Her last relationship survived the year she spent dancing in Pittsburgh and ended for reasons that had nothing to do with her career, but many men would have pressured her to pass up the opportunity.
Some simply don't understand her passion for dance.
"I seriously don't have any time to date, because the next morning I have to be (at work) at 6," she says, adding that her plans for the future still include marriage and children as well as someday opening her own dance studio.
"I'm not lying when I tell people that I don't have time for lunch or to get together to do something. When there's a holiday and I don't have to work, I don't know what to do -- or even what to wear -- but I enjoy dancing and teaching dance."
Page isn't sure how she's doing it, but she seems to get by just fine on about three hours of sleep a night, plus naps and her downtime on Saturdays. Conjugacion recently offered to teach her hula. Somehow, she says, she'll find the time.
"I'd really love to learn hula so I can find a way to mix (it with) classical ballet. It think it would be so beautiful, but there's nothing I want to give up. I love working at Curves and I love to teach, and I love dancing with Tau.
"I feel so much emotion when I dance. I have a hard time with words, but I can dance my feelings."
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