Film on hula legend shows tonight

By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Writer

•	'Maiki Aiu Lake' 7 tonight University of Hawai'i-Manoa Art Auditorium Free On TV: 8 p.m. Wednesday, 7 p.m. Nov. 23 Hawai'i Public Television (KHET)

The documentary on Auntie Maiki, part of Hawai'i Public Television's Biography Hawai'i series, shows through the words of a generation of hula masters she taught that she was one of the true visionaries of island dance in the 20th century.

"She was the ultimate teacher," says Robert Cazimero, a former student who feels compelled to carry on her spirit and her knowledge of Hawaiian dance. "She drew from life — all of her happiness, her sorrows — brought out in dance."

Her attempts at the daring often brought her criticism. Still, she persevered. She opened Margaret Aiu's Hula Studio in the 1940s, renaming her school of dance Halau Hula O Maiki. It was the first time the term halau was used for a hula school.

Director Joy Chong-Stannard creates a revealing portrait of an icon. Ka'upena Wong narrates from a script by Victoria Nalani Kneubuhl.