SOME HIGHLIGHTS:
Kainani Kahaunaele Kainani exemplifies a deep sense of kuleana (responsibility) to the numerous mele she has written and the Hawaiian language. Kainani visited the immersion students at King Kekaulike High school and spoke about the stories that inspired different mele and how it is important to have a good foundation of language and culture to compose Hawaiian music. At UHMC she was able to share similar stories with the students from the Institute of Hawaiian Music. In Paukukalo. Kainani had a great time singing mele for a group of enthusiastic youth: some were Hawaiian language speakers, while others were English-speaking students. She was most impressed with the willingness of the keiki to dance hula to her music: a true manifestation of the power of mele, when the keiki seize the opportunity to hula and encourage their friends to hula too. A full and powerful day immersed in `ōlelo Hawai'i.
Henry Kapono at Kula Hospital for a mini concert with kupuna
Henry Kapono & Robi Kahakalau at Lihilai School
FAUSTWORK MASK THEATRE Rob Faust took his collection of characters ( composed of just masks and body language) to Kamehameha School for a workshop with theater arts students.
AILEY II Dancers from Alvin Ailey's renowned dance campanies taught a master class here in the Omori studios ... and conducted a Q&A with audience members after their performance ... and appeared for an aftershow meet & greet with a couple dozen young Mauians associated with the Queen Liliuokalani Trust.
King Kekaulike High School band instructor Casey Nagata had this to say: "The horn clinic was an amazing experience for my students and we're extremely grateful to Art and the MACC for giving us this opportunity. Being able to go to Tuesday's concert for free really made the students feel special and helped solidify and give context to what they had learned on Monday. At this age and with all the other electives, sports, video games, and activities competing for their free time, it's really important for young musicians to see and hear real live professional musicians to keep them inspired and excited about music. On top of that, it's great to have pros who want to outreach to the schools. Once my band could tell that BBVD was genuinely interested in them, they lost their nervousness and started having fun."
Moses Goods in Community: Lana'i and Moloka'i Maui Arts and Cultural Center in partnership with Lana‘i Culture & Heritage Center hosted a free community performance by Moses Goods (Maui-born actor, writer and storyteller) at Lana'i school: presentation of traditional Hawaiian storytelling, and performing arts. Earlier in the day, Moses had met with a group of Lanai'i students, joined by 25 students from Pa‘ia Youth Center on Maui. He dirst told his own story: how he got involved in theater while in high school, which sparked an interest that has become his passion and profession. Students asked questions about theater/acting, and how Native Hawaiian traditions were researched. Moses shared that if Native Hawaiians do not engage in telling their stories, others will; it is important to learn your traditions and to tell your own stories of your community. He then took the students on a journey through time, from Kaunolu and Kane‘apua, Lana‘i to Kahiki (the ancestral home land of the gods and people of Hawai‘i), by telling the Lana‘i-based story of Kane‘apua, then told the story of Kamapua‘a’s journey to Kahiki, and his battles with Ku‘ilioloa and Lonoka‘eho, and finally, the story of Hamumu, the Hawaiian whale rider. (see more photos HERE Lanai CHC) Moses Goods also enacted a similar program on Moloka'i: educational presentation and a free community performance.
Henry Kapono, Brother Noland and John Cruz ... WATCH THE ROUGH RIDERS VIDEO: "A Day of Aloha" |
Shank's Mare Our Artists in the Community program featured an astounding number of residency activities with 5th-generation Japanese puppet master Koryu Nishikawa V and Hawai'i-born puppet artist Tom Lee. Their production, Shank's Mare (in the Castle Theater Sept 29) is only the top of the glacier of activities: over 1,800 children and adults in Maui County benefitted through three free community performances in Hana, Moloka'i and Lana'i and presentations by the cast in schools in those locations, as well as a special show for schoolchildren in Castle Theater at MACC. Nishikawa and Lee also presented lecture-demonstrations in libraries statewide - including Kahului, Moloka'i and Lana'i - sponsored by the Performing Arts Presenters of Hawai'i, of which MACC is a member. Below: Puppetry at Kahului Library, Tom Lee and Koryu Nishikawa in Molokai Library. Below: a school assembly on Lana'i Al Jarreau with students from Baldwin High School Performing Arts Program |