Eliza Bent gets personal on race and cultural appropriation

Eliza Bent
(photo: Knud Adams)

It's far worse than you might think.

No, that's not my review of Aloha, Aloha, or When I Was Queen, the new monologue written and performed by Eliza Bent, now at Abrons Arts Center. But that's what I believe Bent wants viewers to grasp.

The piece jumps off from the playwright's memories of a film on the 19th Century queen Liliuokalani, Hawaii's last monarch--a school project Bent cooked up at age 13 with a friend and classmate. The young auteur cast her white affluent self as the indigenous queen and now looks back on it--as we get to do; the film is both cringe-worthy and just ridiculously audacious enough to kind of work, ya know?--with no small amount of shame. I can't gauge how completely woke today's Bent is but, as things unfold, you will definitely see she's got her eyes propped open.

She might have forgiven her teenaged self (and begged our forgiveness) for youthful indiscretion. But she does not stop there.

Surrounded, inexplicably but beautifully, by Elizabeth Chabot's rich, thick textile art and a row of fetching portraits--Bent resembles some combination of high-class talk show host and star monologist. Wearing a buttoned-up little black dress with A-line cut, she talks nonstop with well-practiced intensity that pegs her as facile, artificial, privileged, ready for PBS or an NPR podcast.

Frankly, even when self-revealing, she's off-putting. You take note when she utters something amusing. You note that amusement and yet stand clear of enjoying it. You definitely stand away from Bent, and maybe she means you to do so, because her delivery of text is noticeably, oddly driven, airless, leaving no room for her breathing or your own.

At some point, you get used to that. Which might mean an unseen internal change within her or--and this is really what it felt like--something shifting inside you, like when a climber gets more and more acclimated to lower levels of oxygen.

Maybe, though, Bent's the sort best positioned to lead us where we need to go and show us what we need to see--what she's done and what she's witnessed, particularly in the world of media and the arts. (In addition to her stage work, she served, for several years, as a senior editor at American Theatre magazine.) Deep into the play, she circles back to her own relationships and disconnections--refusing to absolve herself for what remains unresolved, tasking herself and the rest of us with acknowledging the pervasive breadth and durability of privilege and the damage wrought. Not a curious fossil from the ancestral past. Not a specimen of a problem that has not a thing on Earth to do with us now.

Direction: Knud Adams
Textile panel art: Elizabeth Chabot
Sound design/original composition: Jerome Ellis
Lighting: Kate McGee
Make up and styling: Naomi Miyoko Raddatz

Aloha, Aloha, or When I Was Queen continues through April 21. For information and tickets, click here.

Abrons Arts Center
466 Grand Street (at Pitt Street), Manhattan
(directions)

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Eddie Kamae, 89

Eddie Kamae, an Innovator and a Historian on Four Strings, Dies at 89
by Nate Chinen, The New York Times, January 24, 2017

Dennis Kamakahi, 61

Dennis Kamakahi, Hawaiian Renaissance Songwriter, Dies at 61
by Nate Chinen, The New York Times, May 1, 2014

Thank gods, it's Friday and hula is alive!

92nd Street Y's 

Friday's at Noon program 

presents

HULA IS LIFE

Curated by John-Mario Sevilla and Halawai

Friday, May 3 (12 pm)

Hula honors nature, gods, royalty, significant geographical sites, historical events and meaningful relationships. This program explores the diversity of hula and presents both ancient (kahiko) and contemporary (auana) styles of dance. The groups performing include Pua Ali’i ‘Ilima ‘O Niuoka, Na Lehua Melemele, Halai Hula O Na Mele ‘Aina ‘O Hawaii and The Gracious Ladies. Live music will be performed by Claudia Goddard, Chris Davis, Kristabelle Muson, Jason Poole, Tommy Cheng and Andy Wang. Plus, guest artist Kaina Quenga.

Please note: Tickets are now required for all Fridays at Noon performances. You can pick up a ticket at the box office downstairs. Pay what you can or come for free – but you need a ticket either way.

For tickets and information, click here.

92nd Street Y (Buttenweiser Hall)
1395 Lexington Avenue (between 91-92nd Streets), Manhattan
(map/directions)

Jake Shimabukuro, ukulele virtuoso, to play NYU Skirball

It is rare for a young musician to earn comparisons to the likes of Jimi Hendrix and Miles Davis. It is even harder to find an artist who has entirely redefined an instrument by his early thirties. Jake Shimabukuro has already accomplished these feats and more on the ukulele. Yes, the ukulele.

NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts will present An Evening with Jake Shimabukuro, the blazingly talented musician who has turned the traditional Hawaiian ukulele into a sensitive instrument capable of channeling any music thrown at it--from rock to jazz to flamenco.

If you're not already hip to Shimabukuro, here are some lovely YouTube videos:

Official Jake Shimabukuro EPK

Blue Roses Falling

Official Jake Shimabukuro YouTube channel
See him on Friday, November 30 (8pm). Click here for details and tickets.

NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts
566 LaGuardia Place, Manhattan
corner of LaGuardia Place and Washington Square South

(map/directions)

Hawaii's Living Waters

Montclair State University's dazzling Peak Performances series will present the U.S. mainland premiere of Kūlanihāko‘i: Living Waters, a new hula drama created by the hula masters of Nā Kinimakalehua.

October 20-21, 7:30pm
October 22, 8pm
October 23, 3pm

Situated high in the heavens, beyond the influence of even the gods themselves, is the mystical Kūlanihāko‘i, an elemental lake from which all life flows. Through dance, chant, storytelling and dramatic interpretation, Living Waters draws from an array of enchanting Hawaiian myths tracing back over 2,000 years, highlighting the need for an equilibrium in the connection between mankind and nature.

For further information and ticketing, click here or call 973-655-5112. For directions, parking and weekend shuttle buses from Manhattan, click here.

Long live hula!

With the 19th Century arrival in Hawai'i of Christian missionaries from New England, hula--that living storehouse of language, genealogy, teaching, healing and prophecy--suffered a setback that would last for several decades. The Christians, with the acquiescence of converted ali’i (Hawai’ian chiefs), banned the practice of this complex ritual art and severely weakened its ancient and essential teacher-to-student lineages. Although some teaching and practice continued in secret, hula was not fully restored to the public arena until Hawai’i’s last king, the arts-friendly Kawika Kalakaua, first brought it back for a week-long celebration of his birthday.

Today, hula’s rich traditions are honored and preserved by dedicated schools and ensembles such as San Francisco’s Halau o Keikiali’i. Under the direction of Kumu Kawika Keikiali’ihiwahiwa Alfiche, the company made its New York debut last evening at Symphony Space, presented by World Music Institute, in a program of mele hula (traditional “danced poetry” hula) and hula ‘auana (modern hula performed to Western stringed instruments). The charming, energetic Kawika proved to be a deft kumu (teacher) indeed for all of us New Yorkers, guiding us through the program and putting everything in historical, aesthetic and spiritual context. "Hula," he told us, "is the language of the heart and the heartbeat of the Hawai'ian people."

As a woman of African-Caribbean heritage, mindful of all that was stripped from African captives during slavery's reign of terror, I am moved by Kawika's teachings. Our people were also long denied our heartbeat, the drum. We know the power of this heartbeat and of its surrogates in speech, song, dance and alternative means of percussion. We identify with the determination of the native Hawai'ian people to reclaim the richness of the hula way of life that preceded Western encounter.

The mele hula section opens with a procession to the stage, re-imagined as the sacred forest of hula goddess Laka. Bearing tropical plants symbolizing the goddess's body, celebrants request permission to enter this realm; their voices must convey the depth of their sincerity. Women tie red skirts around their billowing white petticoats; men with long vines and feathery circlets, chant their longing. Dances in this section involve the smooth, seamless coordination of gestures, isolations, directions and levels of the body, unerringly delivered by Kawika's disciplined corps. Dances, accompanied by poetic chants and a calabash drum, recount goddess Pele's journey through Hawai'i's islands in search of the right place to store her fires; goddess Hi'iaka's creation the forest from a bed of lava; sacred ceremonies and prophetic rituals; and celebrations to honor ancestors, chiefs and royalty.

To my surprise, I loved Halau o Keikiali’i's sample of hula 'auana with its modern instrumentation (guitar and ukelele, an import from Portugal) and romantic songs every bit as much as their upholding of ancient tradition. Of course, we're really not talking about the kind of modern hula you might see in an old Hollywood movie. These graceful dances benefit from the Kawika's careful attention to technique and dignity and the company's fluent, legible dancing. Old or new, this proud ensemble does justice to it all.

This program was offered for one night only, but be sure to watch for other opportunities to see Halau o Keikiali’i and click here for more information about this impressive organization.

Learn more about World Music Institute's mission, resources and upcoming programs here.

Hawaiian music beyond Daniel Ho

Daniel Ho and Hawaiian Music at the Grammys
by Nate Chinen, The New York Times, February 4, 2011

National foundation supports arts of native peoples

New Group is formed to Sponsor Native Arts
by Robin Pogrebin, The New York Times, April 21, 2009

Free moves for all

Free dance lessons continue at City Center's bustling Fall for Dance Festival Lounge (55th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues) at 6:30pm prior to the evening's 8pm Fall for Dance show. These informal sessions are open to the public as well as to festival ticketholders.

On Thursday, September 25, try hip hop moves with Tammy Colucci. Or just kick back with some refreshments and conversation.

Here are some photos from last night's hula lesson with Luana Haraguchi and members of Halau Hula O Na Mele 'Aina O Hawai'i. Click any photo to see a larger image. All photos (c)2008, Eva Yaa Asantewaa.

Keo Woolford in "I Land"

A dancer friend of mine tells me she thinks Keo Woolford (of the autobiographical one-man show, I Land) is a John Leguizamo wannabe. I can see some of that, but the brilliantly talented Woolford has far more charm and opens a window onto an experience and perspective that is less familiar to us. My friend and I agree on one thing: It would be great to see more of his dancing.

The 90-minute piece, directed by Roberta Uno, runs through Sunday at The Culture Project. It traces the ups and downs of Woolford's youth in Hawaii and touches on his development as a student and performer of the ancient, authentic hula--a sacred dance of dignity and focused power.

Woolford's acting is a full-bodied affair--storytelling amplified by body language and gesture--nonstop movement, really--including choreography by Robert Cazimero (hula) and Rokafella (hip hop). It spans the range of human emotions, and when it is funny, it is very funny indeed.

Let's hope that Woolford will return to New York soon. In the meantime, if you'd like to try to catch this show, click on The Culture Project or Ma-Yi Theatre.

(c)2007 Eva Yaa Asantewaa