Festival Intensive
Monday, July 22 to Sunday, August 4

Join us for two weeks in Honolulu, Hawai‘i with the leading choreographers and dancers of Hawai‘i, Asia, and the Pacific!

Under the guidance of University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa dance faculty, participants of the intensive are immersed in a unique two-week technical, artistic, and theoretical exploration of cultural dance that expands the mind, body, and spirit. The intensive offers a rare opportunity to study with renowned international professionals while moving and learning alongside like-minded dancers from across the globe.

Through technique and repertory classes by featured festival companies, participants embrace the physicality and artistry of distinct cultures, connecting movement to tradition, legacy, and values. Participants also enjoy journeying beyond movement through thoughtfully designed lectures and discussions that provide the insights that cultivate true understanding and growth as a dancer and human being.

Click here to apply for the intensive.

Living the Art of Hula
Thursday, July 25, 2019 | 7:30pm
Orvis Auditorium

The first concert of the festival is a uniquely illuminating look at hula featuring performances, presentations, and discussions in one insightful evening. Attendees are transported beyond movement, delving into the stories, history, contemporary evolution, and legacy of this Hawaiian art form that has shaped our islands and spread throughout the world.

This year’s event brings audience members up close and personal with featured Kumu Hula, dancers, and other practitioners in an exploration of how the art of hula has and continues to affect them, forever shaping their lives and perspectives.  Click here to learn more about this year’s Living the Art of Hula program.

Local Motion!
Sunday, July 28, 2019 | 4:00pm
Kennedy Theatre

This concert, a festival event showcasing the best of local dance companies, features Kikunobu Dance company, one of Hawai‘i’s finest Japanese classical dance ensembles.

Founded by Gertrude Yukie Tsutsumi (also known by her stage name Onoe Kikunobu) in 1964, Kikunobu Dance Company has been a center of Nihon Buyo teaching, choreography, performance and training for over 50 years. Thirteen of her students have been recognized as master dancers and in 2015 Gertrude was named one of eleven National Heritage Fellows, the nation’s highest award in folk and traditional arts.

Festival Conference
Friday, August 2 to Sunday, August 4

Join us for a three-day conference offering the best of culture-based dance research, approaches, and issues.

The festival conference convenes over 30 noted scholars and experts from across the globe for a look at the historical views and contemporary themes informing cultural dance today. Participants are immersed in the rich knowledge of culture-based dance through conference speakers, presentations, panels, workshops, and performances in an intimate environment fostering collaboration, sharing, and building of relationships.

Registration for the conference includes admission to the festival’s ‘Ike Hana concerts and other activities.

Click here for more information and to register for the conference.

Welcoming Ceremony
Friday, August 2, 2019 | 6:00pm
East-West Center Friendship Circle

The Welcoming Ceremony is a free event open to the public that features dance, music, and ceremony welcoming the festival’s guest artists and visiting companies.

FREE EVENT

‘Ike Hana I + Culinary Celebration
Saturday, August 3, 2019

Culinary Celebration
LOCATION UPDATE:
East-West Center Imin Center at Jefferson Hall Garden Rooms
5:00pm | Join us before the ‘Ike Hana concert for an evening honoring food and culture throughout Asia and the Pacific featuring the delicious creations of local chefs. A ticket to the Culinary Celebration must be purchased with a ticket to the ‘Ike Hana I concert. Get to know this year’s chefs here.

Silent Auction
5:00pm | Bid on a unique selection of items in our silent auction for a tangible memory of this unique event. Offerings include vouchers to coffee shops, hotel accommodations, and even round-trip plane tickets. Click here for current item list.

‘Ike Hana I Pre-Show Talk
6:45pm | Join us on the Kennedy Theatre Lawn for a pre-show chat.

‘Ike Hana I
Kennedy Theatre
7:30pm | The first of two finale concerts featuring our resident guest artists: ASK Dance Company (Malaysia), Dancers of Damelahamid (British Columbia), and Hālau Hula Ka No‘eau (Honolulu).

ASK Dance Company
A professional, award-winning dance collective from Malaysia built upon the philosophy “that to be alive, one must continuously learn, and thus be unafraid to ASK pertinent questions.” Incorporating traditional and contemporary genres of dance, ASK features outstanding dancers and choreographers and strives to play a significant role in bridging innumerable boundaries and breaking glass ceilings nationally and internationally.

Dancers of Damelahamid
An Indigenous dance company from the Northwest Coast of British Columbia celebrating the diversity and depth of the many beautiful Indigenous cultures across Canada. Through dramatic dance, captivating narrative, intricately carved masks, and elaborate regalia the Dancers of Damelahamid transform time and space, bridging the ancient with a living tradition.

Hālau Hula Ka No‘eau
Hālau Hula Ka No‘eau, under the direction of Kumu Hula Michael Pili Pang, is an award-winning hālau hula built on the philosophy that “the ‘Art of Hula’ expresses all we see, hear, smell, taste, touch, and feel.” Dedicated to performing traditional hula styles, particularly a style called hula ku‘i, Hālau Hula Ka No‘eau has been a driving force in promoting hula at an academic and artistic level with educational lectures, hula production, and performances in Hawai‘i and throughout North America and Asia.

‘Ike Hana II
Sunday, August 4, 2019
Kennedy Theatre

‘Ike Hana II Pre-Show Talk
1:15pm | Join us on the Kennedy Theatre Lawn for a pre-show chat.

‘Ike Hana II
2:00pm | The second of two finale concerts featuring a different program from our resident guest artists: ASK Dance Company (Malaysia), Dancers of Damelahamid (British Columbia), and Hālau Hula Ka No‘eau (Honolulu).

ASK Dance Company
A professional, award-winning dance collective from Malaysia built upon the philosophy “that to be alive, one must continuously learn, and thus be unafraid to ASK pertinent questions.” Incorporating traditional and contemporary genres of dance, ASK features outstanding dancers and choreographers and strives to play a significant role in bridging innumerable boundaries and breaking glass ceilings nationally and internationally.

Dancers of Damelahamid
An Indigenous dance company from the Northwest Coast of British Columbia celebrating the diversity and depth of the many beautiful Indigenous cultures across Canada. Through dramatic dance, captivating narrative, intricately carved masks, and elaborate regalia the Dancers of Damelahamid transform time and space, bridging the ancient with a living tradition.

Hālau Hula Ka No‘eau
Hālau Hula Ka No‘eau, under the direction of Kumu Hula Michael Pili Pang, is an award-winning hālau hula built on the philosophy that “the ‘Art of Hula’ expresses all we see, hear, smell, taste, touch, and feel.” Dedicated to performing traditional hula styles, particularly a style called hula ku‘i, Hālau Hula Ka No‘eau has been a driving force in promoting hula at an academic and artistic level with educational lectures, hula production, and performances in Hawai‘i and throughout North America and Asia.

Talk Story: A Post-show Conversation
Sunday, August 4, 2019 | 4:30pm
East-West Center

A free event open to the public, this final talk story allows attendees to engage in conversation with the festival’s resident dance company directors discussing how and why they do what they do. Hear directors share about the evolution of their companies, the obstacles they have overcome, triumphs achieved, their vision for the future, and more in an insightful conclusion to the festival.

FREE EVENT