Dance
company to perform hula for Long Beach
By Monica Levette Clark
On-line Forty-Niner
 Honululu
Magazine called the dances of the Na Lei
Hulu I Ka Wekiu company, “hula charged with
poetic potency,” and next week this Hawaiian
dance company will perform its blend of
traditional and contemporary forms of hula
at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center
at Cal State Long Beach.
With a cast of over 40 dancers, the dance
company brings hula into mainstream with
a style its director, Patrick Makiuakane,
calls “hula mua.” This style is said to
be innovative because it performs traditional
Hawaiian dance movements to non-Hawaiian
music, such as songs by Madonna and Roberta
Flack.
In doing this the company presents the hula
in a form that is more meaningful to the
audience. Known as the “talk-story” format,
the narration that accompanies the movement
puts the dance into a cultural context for
those who are watching.
Na Lei Hulu I Ka Wekiu, which means “the
many feathered wreaths at the summit, held
in high esteem,” is based in San Francisco
and was founded by its director in 1985.
The dance company said it holds workshops
committed to preserving the Hawaiian culture
by teaching hula to the public. The
workshops are held throughout the year and
cover various aspects of the culture.
The company, called “an ineffably smooth
unison, reminiscent of the best corps de
ballet,” by the Los Angeles Times, received
the Isadora Duncan Dance Award for its production
,“The World According to Hula,” in 1999.
The CPAC said it is proud to welcome the
Hawaiian dance company to its stage as the
first performance of the World Dance three-show
series which includes appearances by two
other cultural performing arts companies
later in the year.
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