Hawaiian Scene
'Holo Mai Pele' hula saga reaches out

By Vicki Viotti
Advertiser Staff Writer

Kaipo Frias and the rest of the Halau o Kekuhi dancers perform one of the chants selected for the televised version of "Holo Mai Pele," which will reach a national audience this fall. Pacific Islanders in Communications "Holo Mai Pele" Film screening, with a performance by Halau o Kekuhi and commentary 7 p.m. today Hawai'i Theatre $30 ($10 discount for students and seniors, $15 discount for groups of 10 or more) 528-0506 Also: A workshop, "The Making of 'Holo Mai Pele," 9:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Saturday at Ward Warehouse's Kewalo Conference Room, will feature Pualani Kanaka'ole Kanahele and Catherine Tatge. $40; $30 for Pacific Islanders in Communications members and students. Reservations: 941-5097.

Thankfully, there are also projects such as "Holo Mai Pele," a made-for-TV, abridged version of the hula epic produced for the stage by Halau o Kekuhi, the Hilo school directed by two scions of the hula tradition, Pualani Kanaka'ole Kanahele and her sister Nalani Kanaka'ole.

The kumu hula and their halau spent two years working with producer-director Catherine Tatge winnowing the three-hour original pageant into its current form. The film is now an hour-long, annotated presentation that will have its national television premiere in October on "Great Performances," the long-running performing-arts mainstay of the Public Broadcasting Service.

But tonight, Island audiences can have a first look in a screening paired with commentary from the Kanaka'oles and Tatge (see box).

It is a remarkable achievement. This meeting of the minds, those schooled in hula tradition and those expert with the language of film, has managed to produce a work that communicates some of the beauty of the Pele chant repertoire even to viewers with little or no understanding of the art.

"Holo Mai Pele" is the tale of the fire goddess' sister Hi'iaka and her travels to Kaua'i. The journey was taken on Pele's behalf, to locate the goddess' lover. Sister handles that admirably, even bringing him back to life. In the process, she falls in love with the man, Lohi'au.

Hi'iaka resists her temptations, but Pele assumes the worst and launches a pre-emptive strike against Hi'iaka's cherished forests of lehua, burning them to the ground.

Many of the passages excerpted for this production are subtitled, which offers a taste of the literary delicacies that are Hawaiian chant poetry. Even among Island lovers of hula, few have enjoyed the experience of watching the dance while understanding its meaning.

Even more crucially for Mainland audiences, there are interview segments that explain important elements of Hawaiian social protocols: The kumu hula explain why students must chant for permission to enter the halau before each class begins.

But, lest the audience conclude that the culture is thoroughly solemn, the chants chosen for production include one about the fertility game kilu, in which dancers enact a round of something like Spin the Bottle.

Whether or not Mainland audiences will take to this, nobody can say. But they surely will understand, which by itself qualifies "Holo Mai Pele" as a "Great Performance."