A dance and music performance that offers a creative look into ancestral memories will be spotlighted on stage this weekend.
The performance is called “(re)Imagining Homelands” and features several artists and cultural practitioners infusing various dance styles into the show, including Japanese taiko, Okinawan sanshin and modern dance.
Yukie Shiroma is the director and choreographer. She’s a modern Okinawan dancer and the artistic director of the mask dance theater company Monkey Waterfall.
She hopes the performance will encourage the younger generations to experiment in dance and theater.
“We have a solid traditional lineage here in Hawaiʻi, both Asian and Pacific traditions,” Shiroma said. "We have dance, music, theater, (and) visual arts that I see young people, who want to experiment, but maybe feel a little intimidated by it so often, they move to the mainland where they’re more accepting of experimentation.”
Shiroma, who grew up in San Francisco, said the last show was in 2022 called “Imaginary Homelands,” inspired by Salman Rushdie’s essay.
“Because we are all third and fourth generation removed from Japan and Okinawa, and we grew up in Hawai‘i and California, we have different memories of what we think the homelands is like or was like because all of us are so steeped in the tradition," she said. "But I haven’t seen a whole lot of new creations out of that experience here.”
The show will be held at Leeward Theatre at Leeward Community College as part of its 50th anniversary season. Tickets are available for live streaming and in-person attendance. Prices range between $10 and $40.
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