2022 ‘Ike Hana I

‘Ike Hana I
7:30pm – Kennedy Theatre, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa
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Traditional Palauan Women’s Dance • The Ngarachamayong Dance Group
Many traditional Palauan dances are performed as a kind of suite. The dances performed here are an entry dance (Touecharou) and four main dances (Delal a ngoik from Koror Village, Chelchedal a ngloik from Koror and Ngardmau Villages, and Ulegengelel a ngloik from Koror Village). They represent the highest ranking village clans and are based on visions, interpretations, or events of the past, present, and future; Palauan legends of gods and demi-gods; and love or war stories, all passed down orally through generations of women. The arrangement of performers is based on rank within the village family or clan, the four middle dancers being descendants of prominent ranking individuals who direct and initiate the performance.

Opening Chant: traditional (Derubesbes chesols), performed by Techekii Uroi N. Salii

Neang Neak Devi, from Seasons of Migration (2005) • Sophiline Arts Ensemble
A serpent goddess descends to earth in order to live among humans. When she realizes her tail makes her different from everyone else, she attempts to tear it off. But she cannot, and she learns to accept it and create the best things for her world with the way she is. The dance is a study in the transformation of identity among migrants.

Choreography: Sophiline Cheam-Shapiro
Music: traditional arrangement by Sophiline Cheam-Shapiro
Costume: Sophiline Cheam-Shapiro
Dancer: Keo Kunthearom

Kahua Hula (Hula Basics) • Kilipohe Nā Lei Lehua
‘Ōlelo no‘eau (a Hawaiian proverb) tells us that a foundation must be laid before building a house. To honor this sentiment Kahua Hula is an arrangement of basic movements used in hula. It draws on traditional footwork but also incorporates some newer patterns. Accompanied by the ipu (gourd), it is intended to help students strengthen their bodies and minds, understand correct rhythmic timing, gain stamina and endurance, and learn the style of Hālau Kilipohe Nā Lei Lehua.

Choreography: Traditional, based on the teachings of Kumu Hula Leina‘ala Kalama Heine, as arranged by Kumu Hula of Hālau Kilipohe Nā Lei Lehua

– INTERMISSION –

Traditional Palauan Men’s Dance • The Ngarachamayong Dance Group
Like traditional Palauan women’s dances, men’s dances are constructed as a kind of suite, comprised here of an entry dance (Chetakl tet), four main dances (of a kind of dance known as Ruk, from Koror Village), and an exit dance (Ulebengelel a ngloik). The main dances are based on visions, interpretations, or events of the past, present, and future; Palauan legends of gods and demi-gods; and love or war stories, all passed down orally.  The arrangement of performers is based on rank within the village family or clan, the four middle dancers being descendants of prominent ranking individuals who direct and initiate the performance.

Opening Blowing of the Conch Shell: Metukr Colombus.

Mele Kakepakepa Aloha • Kilipohe Nā Lei Lehua
The composer weaves a tale of passion and intrigue in a text that beckons Lonoikeaweawealoha, the god of love, to aid in the quest for true love. Who, indeed, can deny the path of the wind as it gusts through the mystical place called Pe‘epoli. Fascinating is the fi ckle nature of the ‘Ena‘aloha wind (the stormy wind of love), but it is only true love the composer seeks. The hula is performed in the kahiko (older) style.

Choreography: Kumu Hula Leina‘ala Kalama Heine
Music: Composed by Aaron Sala
Lyrics by Kaumaka‘iwa Kanaka‘ole
Performed by Aaron Sala, Snowbird Bento, and Sean Pimental

Onlung Chivit, from Phka Sla (2017) • Sophiline Arts Ensemble
Chivy, a young woman, is forced to marry a blind Khmer Rouge soldier. In an act of refusal, she pushes the soldier down a well, and the Khmer Rouge club her over the head as punishment. Their spirits then argue about the impact of the revolution on both of their lives. Chivy survives the regime to tell her story. The dance is a reflection on forced marriage under the Khmer Rouge (and a judicial reparations project of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia).

Choreography: Sophiline Cheam-Shapiro
Set and Costumes: Sophiline Cheam-Shapiro
Music: Him Sophy
Dancers: Chivy — Mot Pharan
Blind Soldier — Sao Phirom
Khmer Rouge and Spirits — Sao Somaly, Sot Sovanndy, Phun Pichoudom, Keo Kuntearom, Long Chantheary

Matematong and Matemahula • The Ngarachamayong Dance Group
These contemporary types of dance are presented, like traditional Palauan dances, as a kind of suite that begins with an entry dance and proceeds with several main dances. The first two main dances are the type known as Matematong that were introduced to Palau by Palauans who stayed overseas on Saipan and other Carolinian islands in the late 1950s. They incorporate elements of traditional Palauan dance but have been modified to adhere to a Palauan aesthetic, and are accompanied by praise songs sung in acapella style composed on different islands or in different communities. The two Matematong performed here are from Koror and Ngerchelong Villages. Matemahula began in the early 1980s and combine traditional Palauan and  Matematong dance movements with hand gestures from Hawaiian hula. They are accompanied by popular contemporary mainstream Palauan music.

Matemahula Song 1: Mesab, composed by Tres Rdulaol
Matemahula Song 2: Bebael, composed by Silver Bayano Takada

He Mele no Kāne • Kilipohe Nā Lei Lehua
He Mele no Kāne is in the kahiko (older) style of oli (chant). The text asks: Where is the water of Kāne?  In the east toward the rising sun; in the west, toward the setting sun; in the mountains and at the sea; in the atmosphere above and in the ground below. Within this world life is abundant because water is everywhere. The chant is used here to introduce the hula that follows.

Music: Traditional oli (chant)
Performed by members of Hālau Kilipohe Nā Lei Lehua

Kepi‘ina • Kilipohe Nā Lei Lehua
This mele (song) tells about a huaka‘i (a journey) to Kaua‘i that included Kumu Palani Kahala and Kumu Leina‘ala Kalama Heine. The text describes the beauty of the places and the shared feelings of mana (spiritual power). Both the musical composition and choreography were created in recent times, but in the kahiko (older) style.

Choreography: Kumu Hula Leina‘ala Kalama Heine
Music: Composed by Kumu Hula Palani Kahala
Performed by members of Hālau Kilipohe Nā Lei Lehua