Press Releases |
Download Press Release (PDF) |
For Immediate Release:
January 7, 2008PREMIERE OF “YOU BE THE JUDGE” HULA COMPETITION
MKH Productions Presents Dance Competition in Celebration of
Traditional Hawaiian New
Year Festival
Oakland, CA — On Saturday, February 16, 2008, Oakland-area-based MKH Productions in conjunction with the Academy of Hawaiian Arts will present “Ka Hula Hou: Pride on the Line,” at Centennial Hall in Hayward, CA. This first-of-its-kind challenge will feature only the male dancers from four respected West coast hula halau, or schools.
Sporting events held during the Hawaiian Makahiki (traditional festival in honor of the change from harvest time to the beginning of the agricultural season annually from October to March) were held in a fun-loving, yet competitive spirit where the observers would cheer on the participants and deem the winners of each challenge.
Echoing the spirit of the competitions of old Hawai’i, this Makahiki, the four contending groups in “Ka Hula Hou: Pride on the Line” will challenge each other in dance “bouts” where the audience will choose the winner. In modern, ring-side tournament style, competing dancers will watch their opponents and decide and prepare on the spot for the hula their kumu (dance teacher) chooses as the best comeback to their opponent. Winners will continue to compete until only one group remains.
This event promises to be exciting and fun, with the anticipated give-and-take between dancers and audiences stimulating high energy and excitement for the entire family, young and old alike. Popular Hawaiian radio personality and comedienne “Mento Mele” Apana will emcee the event adding to the antics on and off-stage.
“Ka Hula Hou: Pride on the Line” is an especially unique take on the highly popular tradition of hula competition, where customarily select panels of hula masters, historians, and linguists serve as judges of categories such as suitable attire or appropriate accompaniment to classic Hawaiian chants and songs. For Ka Hula Hou, the groups will have the choice of contending with dances of either classic or contemporary origin.
Contenders for "Ka Hula Hou 2008" are: Academy of Hawaiian Arts under the direction of Kumu Hula (master dance teacher) Mark Keali‘i Ho‘omalu (Oakland, CA); Na Kane O Manawaiopuna under the direction of Kumu Hula Kamaile Hamada (Federal Way, WA); Halau Na Pua Lehua I Ka Ua Noe under the direction of Kumu Hula Keoni Chang (Chino Hills, CA); and Halau Hula O Kawika Laua ‘O Leinani under the direction of Kumu Hula Kawika and Leinani Viloria (Diamond Bar, CA).
Doors will open at 5:00 p.m. Round One begins at 7:00 p.m. General admission tickets are $50, $35, and $25, based on arena seating. Centennial Hall (Hayward Convention Center) is located at 22292 Foothill Boulevard, Hayward, CA, 94541.
Tickets available online at AHAhula.com, or call: (510)
512-3974 to arrange for in-person purchase, or charge by phone.
About Mark Keali‘i Ho‘omalu (MKH Productions)
In his 26-plus-year career as a hula teacher and performing artist in California, Kumu Hula Mark Keali‘i Ho‘omalu’s evolution of traditional chant has earned him both continuing praise and criticism. His intense and melodic chant style as well as his unique ipu heke (gourd drum) beats distinguish him from anyone in Hawaiian music today. Called “inventive” by some and “unrestrained” by others, Ho‘omalu obscures the boundaries between traditional and popular Hawaiian music. Following his critically-acclaimed debut CD, Po‘okela Chants, Ho‘omalu’s much-anticipated second release, Call It What You Like…, topped music charts in Hawai‘i and placed high on the Billboard’s World Music Chart for several weeks in 2003.
In 2001, Ho‘omalu and Alan Silvestri (Forrest Gump, Back to the Future)
co-wrote “Hawaiian Rollercoaster Ride” and “He Mele No Lilo” (opening theme)
for Walt Disney Pictures’ Academy Award-nominated film and soundtrack, Lilo and
Stitch. Ho‘omalu went on to record “Always,” for Walt Disney’s
DVD release, Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has an Glitch. Ho‘omalu was also featured
as one of three California hula teachers, in the PBS Point of View documentary, American
Aloha: Hula Beyond Hawai‘i. Most recently, Ho‘omalu released a self-produced Hawaiian
craft "edu-tainment" series called, Hana Lima, or “hand-made,” on
YouTube.com.
Interviews with Ho‘omalu and others are welcome.
Press Contact: Kamali'i Bingham • info@academyofhawaiianarts.org |
# # #