'Look Back: Move Forward' brings familiar faces to Kennedy

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Contact:
Matthew Kelty, (808) 956-2598
Director of Publicity, Kennedy Theatre
Kennedy Theatre Box Office, (808) 956-7655
Kennedy Theatre
Posted: Oct 24, 2013

“Hamadryad” is part of Kennedy Theatre’s “Look Back: Move Forward," premiering Friday, November 15.
“Hamadryad” is part of Kennedy Theatre’s “Look Back: Move Forward," premiering Friday, November 15.

The University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa’s Department of Theatre and Dance is proud to present, “Look Back: Move Forward,” Kennedy Theatre’s dance concert for the 2013-2014 season. The production celebrates the theater’s 50th Anniversary by bringing UHM Dance alumni, well known to local audiences, back to the stage where their careers began.  Performances will take place November 15, 16, 22 and 23 at 8 p.m., and November 24 at 2 p.m.  UHM students with validated Fall 2013 university IDs will be eligible for the theater’s buy-one-get-one offer on Friday, November 22.

Before the evening shows and during intermission, Kennedy Theatre will feature video installations of dance and choreography by additional UHM Dance alumni.  Audiences will also have the opportunity to attend free pre-show chats at 7:00 p.m. on November 16 and 23.  Patrons who attend on opening night are invited to join the dancers, choreographers and director, as well as faculty from the Department of Theatre and Dance, for a post-show reception on the theater’s lanai in celebration of Kennedy’s 50th Anniversary.

“Look Back: Move Forward” will feature eight pieces that display the breadth of UH Mānoa’s dance training, and of the choreography created by its alumni and associated artists.  Styles will include classical Indian dance, Okinawan dance, hula, contemporary dance and jazz.  A highlight of the concert will be “Blue-Green” (1979), choreographed by Carl Wolz, the founder of the UHM Dance Program.  This lyric duet for two women will be performed by MFA students Mareva Minerbi and Blythe Stephens.  Jean Erdman’s classic “Hamadryad” (1948) will also be performed.  Edrman passed this solo, set to Claude Debussy’s Syrnix, on to Nancy Allison; Allison taught it to students Malia Wild and Alison Burkhardt, who will perform it on alternate nights.  Flautist Sian Ishihara will play Debussy’s score live for each performance.

Several dances in the concert illustrate the program’s mission to combine tradition and innovation.  Yukie Shiroma’s “Uchinaa nu Chimugukuru” (“Okinawan Spirit”) grew out of her 30-year dedication to Okinawan classical dance.  Cheryl Flaharty, director of IONA Contemporary Dance Theatre, will present, “You’re the One for Me,” from her well-known evening-length program “Hawaiian Myths and Legends.”  The excerpt tells the humorous story of Kamapua‘a, the Hawaiian pig god, and his sultry relationship with Pele; it is performed to a combination of Ravel’s “Bolero” and text by local playwright Victoria Nalani Kneubuhl.  The program will also include “The Other Rhythm,” which features the musicality and intricate movements of both hula and the classical Indian dance form Bharatanātyam.  Kumu hula Vicky Holt Takamine has joined forces with visiting dance scholar Anita Vallabh to create an interweaving of these two distinct dance traditions.  Concert director Betsy Fisher describes the piece as “not fusion, but an interlacing.  Fusion suggests that a form has been altered in some way.  Here, each form retains its own tradition and its own beauty.  The idea is to show how these two graceful and powerful forms can interact to create a kinetic dialogue between the dancers.”

The concert will also feature “Deep Divide” by Dance alumna Jennifer Shannon.  The piece premiered at Mark’s Garage in 2012, and will be performed at Kennedy Theatre by Alexa Manalansan and Kent Shinomae.  Alumni choreographers Tony Young and Andrew Sakaguchi will round out the concert with work that draws on jazz and musical theater dance traditions.  Fisher says that she is “pleased and proud” to direct this concert, which exemplifies “the diverse offerings of the UHM dance program, the choreographic skills of its alumni, and the talents of its student dancers.”

Tickets for “Look Back: Move Forward” are available online at etickethawaii.com, by phone at (808) 944-2697, and at participating outlets. Tickets may also be purchased at the Kennedy Theatre box office; the box office is open from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, with extended hours on performance dates.  Prices are $25 for general admission; $22 for seniors / military / UH faculty and staff; $16 for UHAA members; $13 for students; and $5 for students with validated Fall 2013 UHM photo IDs.  Ticket prices include all service fees.  Discount rates are available for groups of 10 or more.  For further information, please visit hawaii.edu/kennedy, or call the theater at (808) 956-7655.  For disability access, please call the theater.

 

EVENT:

“Look Back: Move Forward”

 

PRESENTED BY:

UHM Department of Theatre and Dance

 

WHEN:

Nov. 15, 16*, 22, 23* at 8 p.m.

Nov. 24 at 2 p.m.

* Free pre-show chat at 7:00 p.m.

 

WHERE:

UHM’s Kennedy Theatre Mainstage

1770 East-West Road, Honolulu

 

TICKET PRICES:

$25 general admission

$22 seniors / military / UH Faculty and staff

$16 UHAA members

$13 students

$5   students with validated Fall 2013 UHM photo IDs

Ticket prices include all service fees

 

PURCHASE INFO:

Tickets may be purchased online at etickethawaii.com, by phone at (808) 944-2697, and at participating outlets.  Tickets are also available at the Kennedy Theatre box office; the box office is open from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, with extended hours on performance dates.

For more information, visit: http://hawaii.edu/kennedy/2013/lookback/