The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Department of Theatre and Dance presents its Spring Footholds performance, which showcases new choreography by the department’s graduate and undergraduate dance students.
Spring Footholds will be performed at the Earle Ernst Lab Theatre April 24–27 at 8 p.m., and April 28 at 2 p.m. A post-show discussion will follow the performance on Friday, April 26.
The evening will center around the capstone projects of graduating seniors Sami L.A. Akuna, Rashida Jewel Vennie and Kent Shinomae.
- Shinomae’s piece, Driven, combines modern dance technique with the pulsing rhythms of EDM (electronic dance music), providing a visceral “sense of acceleration” for the viewer.
- Vennie’s The Importance of Choice uses dance to address social and personal concerns and incorporates dance set to spoken-word poetry.
- Influenced by Japanese avant-garde butoh movement, Akuna features four vignettes—The Calm, The Storm, The Light, and The Dark—exploring the history and effects of nuclear warfare.
The concert will also feature new choreography rooted in classical techniques and themes.
- Devon Izumigawa’s Star Sign will present a new work that fuses Mongolian folk and classical Chinese dance techniques.
- Lei Ishikawa’s piece is a combination of traditional and new choreography set to Okinawan folks songs that date back to the 1800s; it expresses the excitement of flirting with someone in the moonlight.
- Malia Wild’s dance explores themes from folklore surrounding the Japanese goddesses Marishiten and Ameterasu in Ascension.
Ticket information
Tickets for Spring Footholds are available online at etickethawaii.com, by phone at (808) 944-2697, at participating outlets and at the Kennedy Theatre box office. The box office is open Monday–Friday, 10 a.m.–1 p.m., with extended hours on performance dates.
Prices are $16 for general admission; $15 for seniors/military/UH faculty and staff; $13 for UHAA members and non-UH Mānoa students; and $5 for UH Mānoa students with a validated spring 2013 UH Mānoa photo ID. All service fees are included in ticket prices.
For more information, please visit the Kennedy Theatre website or call (808) 956-7655. For disability access, please call the theatre.
—By Nicole Atienza
