Dialogue 3 Creating Culture

Date:  Friday February 25, 2011

Location: Kamakakūokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies,
UH Mānoa, 2645 Dole St.
Parking available adjacent to the Center

5:00-5:45 p.m. Musical Performance by

KE KAUOHA THE JAZZ PROJECT

” . . . combining the elegance of Hawaiian music and the bold improvisation of jazz into a musical form that can be appreciated by both Hawaiians and Non-Hawaiians alike . . . ”

6:00-8:30 p.m.  Dialogue Program

This Dialogue will explore the place of creativity and innovation in a heritage tradition. In the first two Dialogues, two important contrasting pairs have come up again and again. First:  Tradition vs. Art — artists in a traditional culture are expected to exemplify excellence in the tradition; but artists are also creative souls who have their own voices and mana‘o that comes through in their music-making. Second: Culture vs. Commerce — Hawaiian performance is an indigenous tradition; it is also simultaneously an entertainment form. It has become tourist entertainment. But let us not forget that prior to tourism, prior to the era of annexation and westernization, Hawaiian performance was entertainment for akua–the four, the forty, the four hundred etc.,  and ali‘i–who, after all, were akua on earth. So why has creativity become so dangerous, especially for young artists?

Engaging with the following panelists:

SNOWBIRD BENTO
Kumu Hula, Ka Pā Hula o Ka Lei Lehua
Instructor, Kamehameha Schools–Kapālama

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KEKUHI KEALI‘IKANAKA‘OLEOHAILILANI
Heir to the Kanaka‘ole family traditions of Hilo’s acclaimed Hālau o Kekuhi
Award-winning recording artist
Title III Coordinator, Hawaiian Lifestyles Program, Hawai‘i Community College

NAPUA MAKUA
Kumu Hula, Hālau Nā Lei Kaumaka o Uka
Nā Hōkū award-winning recording artist
Instructor, Kamehameha Schools, Maui

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TAUPOURI TANGARO (nee Kaipo Frias)
Master chanter and songwriter
Chair of Hawaiian Lifestyles Program, Hawai‘i Community College, and Director of its experiential hula curriculum, UNUKUPUKUPU.