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Faculty Trina Nahm-Mijo and Manaiakalani Kalua perform at the art exhibit opening

Hawaiʻi Community College and the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo are celebrating decades of dance at the two campuses with an art exhibit that offers a glimpse into the past and provides inspiration for the future.

The exhibit, titled Dance 40/22: The Legacy Continues, is on display at UH Hilo’s Upstairs Gallery located in Campus Center 301. The photo exhibit celebrates the 40th anniversary of the dance program at UH Hilo and the 22nd anniversary of the dance program at Hawaiʻi CC. The exhibit will be displayed through February 12.

Dance 40/22 opened on January 12 with a performance by Hawaiʻi CC Professor Trina Nahm-Mijo with guest artists Hawaiʻi CC Instructor Manaiakalani Kālua; classical singer, Kim Nagy and celloist, Anna Callner. Other dance faculty performing were UH Hilo Instructors Kea Kapahua and Annie Bunker.

History of dance at the campuses

In 1974 there was a burgeoning of the arts on Hawaiʻi Island, which coincided with the beginning of the Volcano Arts Center and the creative inspiration that the Volcano environment provided for artists. The community thirst for dance training and expression spilled into the growing college campus community, and it was not unusual to find classes of 60 or more students packed into the UH Hilo Old Gym.

One of the photos from the exhibit

In honor of these milestones, Dance 40/22 presents iconic photos and newspaper articles from the 1970s and 1980s. The historical exhibit is a tribute to the founder of modern dance in the state of Hawaiʻi as well as founder of the dance program at UH Hilo, Earnest T. Morgan (1947–1992). Morgan and Nahm-Mijo, founder of the dance program at Hawaiʻi CC, started the first modern dance company in the state of Hawaiʻi called Dance O Hawaiʻi.

Currently, dance classes in ballet, modern, jazz, aerial, pilates, dance education, choreography and dance ensemble are offered either at UH Hilo or Hawaiʻi CC.

Read the Hawaiʻi CC news release for more.

—By Thatcher Moats

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