A variety of live performances featuring talented artists from Hawaii and around the world will take the stage at the University of Hawaii at Hilo Performing Arts Center this season.
The UH-Hilo Performing Arts Center, or PAC, has been slowly recovering since the COVID-19 pandemic derailed live performances and made it difficult to book new or international acts.
With eight performances scheduled this year, PAC has doubled the number of shows from last season.
“We have been very lucky to have exciting performances and have a full season ahead of us,” said PAC manager Lee Dombroski. “We’re grateful to be able to pull this off with help from relief funding from various sources.”
The season will start similarly with the eighth annual Dance Collective, which features choreographers from Center Stage Dance Alliance, Island Dance Academy, N2 Dance and UH-Hilo’s Dance department, as well as independently-working choreographers.
“This is always a great night of dance that features local choreographers, many of them Big Island-grown,” Dombroski said. “We let them make their own creative choices and it ends up being such a well-rounded show of dance that displays themes that are more serious, joyful and everything in between.”
Tickets are available for the Dance Collective, which will be at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 20.
One big change that will be consistent throughout the season will be the start times to every performance. Every performance this year will begin half an hour earlier than usual at 7 p.m.
“Many of our kupuna audiences have asked us this for a long time, so we are starting every performance at 7 p.m.,” Dombroski said. “We want to be as inclusive and accommodating as possible, so we hope everyone takes note of the change, so they can arrive on time.”
After the Dance Collective, PAC will get into the season with “(re)Imagining Homelands: A collaborative retelling of ancestral memories,” which is a follow-up collaboration between artists and cultural practitioners Kenny Endo, Norman Kaneshiro, Derek Fujio and Yukie Shiroma.
Since their first collaboration, “Imaginary Homelands,” the team of creatives has brought new elements to this show with Japanese taiko, Okinawan sanshin and Okinawan and modern dance coming together to inspire artists, who are often forced to choose between traditional and contemporary art forms.
“(re)Imagining Homelands” will be at PAC on Thursday, Oct. 3.
The last performance in the fall will be “Nothing Micro about Micronesia,” an expansion of TeAda Productions’ current touring show “Masters of the Currents,” which was performed at PAC before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The new work delves into the dichotomy of following cultural traditions and government systems as the story follows a group of friends living in Micronesia as they face the complications of growing up and uncertain futures.
While TeAda is based on the mainland, the company is dedicated to using classes and workshops to drive their creative process. Most recently, they traveled to Micronesia and conducted workshops in the Marshall Islands, Pohnpei and Chuuk, where the stories shared were inspiration for “Nothing Micro about Micronesia”
Some ensemble members started as participants at these workshops and the core of the ensemble will be made up primarily of Micronesian, Pacific Islanders, and Native Hawaiian actors.
“Nothing Micro about Micronesia” will be at PAC on Tuesday, Oct. 22.
The beginning of the spring semester will see a shift to another part of the world with a performance from Brazilian musician Luedji Luna as part of her “Bom Mesmo E Estar Debaixo D’agua Deluxe” tour.
Luna’s music explores the various sound styles of neo-soul, rhythm and blues and jazz while bringing in messages of resistance, belief, depth, and love. She has become a reference for contemporary, Brazilian popular music.
Due in part to support from the Performing Arts Global Exchange program of Mid Atlantic Arts, Luna will be performing at PAC on Thursday, Jan. 16.
The following event will be a dance performance that incorporates modern dance, hula, Hawaiian chant and live music from Christopher K. Morgan and Artists.
“Native Intelligence/Innate Intelligence” will explore ideas between nature and nurture– how genetics and environment shape the human experience. The work looks to weave stories of varied identities to build bridges and celebrate each other.
The performance will be at PAC on Thursday, Jan. 23.
To celebrate Valentine’s Day, OperaAloha with Love will be on stage, blending opera with Hawaii’s diverse musical traditions on Thursday, Feb. 13.
The show will feature world-class vocalists, which include Cuban-American soprano Maria Valdes, Samoan-New Zealand soprano Aivale Cole, American tenor Christopher Oglesby and Korean bass-baritone Jongwon Han.
Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana is celebrating 40 years as one of America’s premier flamenco companies with a tour around Hawaii and a short residency at UH-Hilo.
Four musicians and six dancers will present “Quinto Elemento” at PAC on Friday, March 14 before traveling to the other Hawaii venues. The dancers will then return for a short residency as a cultural exchange with university students.
“Some of our students will be learning at Carlotta Santana and the dancers will be at UH-Hilo to participate in multiple programs planned for their stay,” Dombroski said. “These dancers are some of the best flamenco dancers there are and it will be fantastic to see them perform and have them here.”
Closing out PAC’s season will be the spring musical, “Kinky Boots,” which is based on the 2005 British film written by Geoff Deane and Tim Firth.
The Tony-award winning musical follows Charlie Price as he works to save his father’s shoe factory and finds inspiration in the form of Lola, an entertainer in need of some sturdy stilettos.
Performances of “Kinky Boots” will all begin at 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 10, Friday, April 11 and Saturday, April 12.
“We’re so excited to be able to have such a diverse line up this season and I’m really looking forward to it,” Dombroski said. “It’s always my goal to bring a variety of experiences to audiences since we don’t have as many opportunities for live performance on the Big Island.”
Season subscriptions will be offered this year, saving buyers 20% off regular ticket prices. The full 2024-2025 line-up will be available online beginning on Friday, Aug. 23.
Subscriptions are $124 for general audiences, $96 for discounted audiences and $60 for UH-Hilo and Hawaii Community College students and children 17-years old and under.
Single tickets for all season events will be available online and over the phone beginning Tuesday, Sept. 3.
For more information on UH-Hilo Performing Arts Center and the 2024-2025 season, visit artscenter.uhh.hawaii.edu/.
Email Kelsey Walling at kwalling@hawaiitribune-herald.com
