We haven’t been to California Plaza in a long time. Our first discovery was that they no longer permit alcohol. This is a pointless precaution because the audience is obviously not there to cause trouble, but to carry on loud conversations throughout the performance and let their kids run amok while maintenance workers incessantly push trashcans with clattery wheels from one end of the venue to another. Later the police sirens started howling and never let up.
Despite the unpropitious circumstances, Na Lei Hulu I Ka Kekiu’s precisely synchronized undulating and gesturing was mesmerizing and beautiful.
As is probably appropriate for a company that is not exclusively Hawaiian (and maybe even mostly haole), they are not hung up on authenticity. The dances ranged from the earthy old-school recreations to the glitzy (Propellerheads “History Repeating,” complete with drag Shirley Bassey impersonator). Probably my favorite moment was when a group of the women barely moved to some trance electronica by Way Out West.
The men were very nice looking, and, as the company is based in San Francisco, it was hard not to take most of the male dances in a deeply gay sense. I know this is probably a wretched misunderstanding based on cultural ignorance, but there you are.
Dear Na Lei Hulu, please don’t be offended by the obnoxious L.A. audience. You put on an amazing show and we loved it.
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[Images: Lin Cariffe]
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