CriticalDance Forum

SF Chronicle staff writer Jennie Fitzhugh seems taken by hula dancing. She goes a bit into the history and styles of hula:<BR> <A HREF="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2000/05/12/CC70208.DTL&type=performance" TARGET=_blank>http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2000/05/12/CC70208.DTL&type=performance</A>

Just curious....<P>Anyone here involved with a halau, or hula?

Hmm, I guess not BabsLights but here's a story about Hula legend Patrick Makuakane.<P> <BR>Patrick Makuakane<BR>Director of Na Lei Hulu I Ka Wekiu<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><B>Taking liberties with hula</B><BR>BY ANITA AMIRREZVANI<BR>Mercury News<BR> <BR>Patrick Makuakane is a maverick in the world of hula -- a unique product of both Hawaiian traditional culture and the giddy world of San Francisco experimental dance.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><B><A HREF="http://www0.mercurycenter.com/premium/arts/eye/docs/hula6.htm" TARGET=_blank>The San Jose Mercury News article</A></B>

Here's a site or two that have a lot of information about hula:<P><B><A HREF="http://www.menehune.com/links.html" TARGET=_blank> menehune.com</A></B> and <B><A HREF="http://www.geocities.com/~olelo/hulalinks.html" TARGET=_blank>The Hula Pages</A></B><P><p>[This message has been edited by Keahipapala (edited March 13, 2001).]

Peter Stack of the Chronicle reports on the hula craze in SF:<P>Hula's Swinging <BR>Traditional island storytelling dance is making waves in the Bay Area<BR> <A HREF="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/04/05/DD104977.DTL" TARGET=_blank>http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/04/05/DD104977.DTL</A>

<BR><font size=1>Photo Allan Houghton</font size><P>Photos by famed Hula photographer Allan Houghton are on display in this article:<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><B>Heartbeat of Hawaii</B><P>Honolulu Star-Bulletin<P>Alan Houghton's collection reflects the mysticism of hula. Houghton has been a photographic artist for more than 45 years. A native of London, he moved to Hawaii about 10 years ago with his wife Jean. In 1996, the Kahala Mandarin Oriental chose 72 photos from "Heartbeat of Hawaii" to decorate its hallways. Houghton has also won eight awards for his ancient hula photographs and has been on 300 magazine covers.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><A HREF="http://starbulletin.com/2001/06/10/features/story7.html" TARGET=_blank><B>More</B></A><P>For postcards, go to the <A HREF="http://www.hawaiian-flowers.com/postcards/hical2.htm" TARGET=_blank><B>hawaiian-posters.com postcards page</B></A>.

From the Los Angeles Times:<P><B>This Isn't Your Grandmother's Hula<BR> A Bay Area troupe uses modern elements to give the traditional Hawaiian dance a topical relevance.</B><BR> <BR>By VICTORIA LOOSELEAF, Victoria Looseleaf is a regular contributor to Calendar<P><BR> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>The sweet smell of plumeria, swaying palm trees and seductive, shimmying hips--add chanting or ukulele music and you've got hula, right?<P>For Patrick Makuakane, who was born and raised in Honolulu and began studying hula at age 13, the equation adds up differently. Makuakane, who moved to San Francisco in 1984 to attend San Francisco State University, still dances his native hula, but as often to the music of Madonna, Tony Bennett and opera composer Leo Delibes as to more traditional accompaniment. And while he knows how to set hips to swaying, he also amplifies tradition with new torso and arm movements.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><BR><A HREF="http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/printedition/suncalendar/la-000063503aug05.story?coll=la%2Dheadlines%2Dsuncalendar" TARGET=_blank><B>MORE...</B></A><BR>

From <B>Personal, political stories mix in hula - Solo show doesn't tell either story entirely</B> by Robert Hurwitt, San Francisco Chronicle:<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>"Be careful what a smile hides," Leilani Chan confides as she ends a gently swaying hula with an innocently flirtatious grin.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><A HREF="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/08/11/DD72051.DTL" TARGET=_blank><B>more...</B></A>

From the Los Angeles Times:<P><B>Hula Gives Sway to Updated Style</B><P>By JENNIFER FISHER, Special to The Times<P><BR> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>While watching the exquisite progressive hula choreographed by Patrick Makuakane on Friday night at California Plaza in downtown L.A., it was easy to think of the best answer to what is my favorite kind of dance: "Good dance, no matter what the genre." <HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><BR><A HREF="http://www.calendarlive.com/top/1,1419,L-LATimes-Search-X!ArticleDetail-40503,00.html?search_area=Blended&channel=Search&search_text=%22Dance+Review%22" TARGET=_blank><B>MORE....</B></A><BR>

<P>Here's a company I saw perform recently (they have a highly informative web site):<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Halau Hula Ka No`eau<P>...a formal Hawaiian dance academy and performing company. Established in 1986 by Kumu Hula Michael Pang in the rural town of Waimea on the Big Island of Hawai`i, it has become known as a traditional Halau (school/company). The dance style of the halau is called "hula ku`i", a term associated with the dance style of the late Hula Master Maiki Aiu Lake.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><a href=http://www.artofhula.com/ target=_blank>www.artofhula.com</a>

More of the same<P><B>Local Choreographers Break "Ethnic Dance" Boundaries</B><BR>Rachel Howard, SF Examiner<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>The Webster Elementary School auditorium is an ocean of undulating hips on Sunday afternoons as Patrick Makuakane pounds a giant gourd for steady rhythm and his company of 45 hula dancers trace their hands and arms in ancient, graceful patterns above their shimmying mid-sections. Makuakane stops, unsatisfied: He wants more contrast, more punch in the sharp foot movements.<P> "Where are the Molokai people?" he shouts.<P> "My grandfather!" a man answers with his fist in the air.<P> "All right, let's see your grandfather in those feet then!"<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><A HREF="http://www.examiner.com/ex_files/default.jsp?story=X0930ETHNICw" TARGET=_blank><B>more...</B></A><BR><p>[This message has been edited by LMCtech (edited October 01, 2001).]

A review:<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Choreographer redefines the hula<P>ANITA AMIRREZVANI, San Jose Mercury News<P>Patrick Makuakane is a choreographer to watch. Raised in Hawaii but living in San Francisco, he is close enough to the islands to stay in touch with tradition but far away enough to innovate on his own.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><a href=http://www0.mercurycenter.com/premium/arts/docs/hula9a.htm target=_blank>More</a>

And another:<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Ethnic ethics<BR>Makuakane and Das use traditions to innovate.<P>Rita Felciano, SF Bay Guardian<P>'ETHNIC DANCE& quot; is about as meaningful a tag as Asian food or African music. The label infers that it is neither ballet nor postmodern. But what is it? Imported dancing? Traditional? Community-based?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><a href=http://www.sfbg.com/AandE/36/02/dance.html target=_blank>More</a>

Boy, they're really covering this guy...<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Superb dance show celebrates Hawaii <P>By Joelle M. Sylva -<BR>STAFF WRITER<P><BR>For the Hawaiian at heart - and for transplanted natives - ``The Hula Show" is definitely a must-see.<P>Na Lei Hulu I Ka Wekiu, one of the Bay Area's finest Hawaiian dance companies, presented a spectacular opening-night production of the show last Saturday at San Francisco's Palace of Fine Arts Theatre.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><A HREF="http://buzz.insidebayarea.com/default_nmobuzz.asp?puid=4403&indx=0&article=on" TARGET=_blank><B>more...</B></A><P>

I am sure many factors play into why a performance gets coverage...