The University of Hawai'i at Mānoa's Department of Theatre and Dance's Concert Features Internationally Renowned Guest Choreographers & More

The University of Hawai'i at Mānoa's Department of Theatre and Dance and Kennedy Theatre are proud to present Form Within a Form: Echoes and Reverberations. This season's largest dance production features dynamic, interactive, and powerfully innovative collaborations between original dance, music, mixed media, scenic art, lighting and costume designs. Directed by Kara Jhalak Miller, this production highlights internationally renowned choreographers from the Korea National University of the Arts in addition to original contributions by local Hawai'i artists, U.H.M. Dance faculty, and U.H.M. Music faculty. These visionary artists are dedicated to creating fine contemporary productions that span a wide range of dance genres for everyone to enjoy. This production is a recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts "Grants for Arts Projects." Performances of Form Within a Form: Echoes and Reverberations will be November 11-12 & 18-20 on the Kennedy Theatre Mainstage. Ticket prices range from $8-$25.

Most notably two pieces highlighted in the production are created by internationally renowned guest choreographers from the 한국예술종합학교 Korea National University of the Arts (K'Arts) including 김삼진 Samjin Kim and 정재혁 Jae Hyuk Jung. This award-winning show, originally slated for Fall 2020, was postponed due to the pandemic and rescheduled so that Kim and Jung could participate in an in-person artist residency at U.H.M. Both artists joined the dance program this past August and September to stage their new works. Their residency afforded opportunities for U.H.M. dance and theatre students to learn Kim's choreography for 출정/Chuljeong: The Battle Against Invisible Fear, that blends movement utilizing breath techniques and improvisation, and Jung's Hangout, that employs repetitive movements as a method of skillfully combining two elements: Korean tradition and contemporaneity. The two works focus on indigenous contemporary dance with Korean traditional contexts. Performance Director Kara Jhalak Miller notes, "The performances of their works in Form within a Form: Echoes and Reverberations is an exceptional opportunity for our students and community members to be exposed to Kim and Jung's choreography and creative process." From the process of creation Kim hopes her cast "will find a dance that makes them feel real happiness in each of their daily lives." While Jung invites the audience to "hangout with us while viewing our dance pieces."

"This production focuses on deeply investigative creative processes with themes of nurturing, nourishing, sustaining, transmission, and transformation that also explore immersive perception and physical listening through the senses and body," shares Miller. The production has also included various work-in-progress showings at the U.H.M. Dance Building Studio, leading up to the November production, where audiences were invited to engage with the choreographers and performers, and to have conversations that contributed to the development of the dances. Miller notes, "The live performance includes a fresh multi-faceted and wide variety of diverse choreographic approaches to dance making."

Additional original creative contributions and dance premieres by U.H.M. Dance and Music faculty and local Hawai'i artists include Sai Bhatawadekar who notes her piece हीच इनंती यावं जी - Invocation "is a Marathi song invoking the god of stage to come and give us creative breath, fire, rhythm, and music. As the god's form is embodied within our form, and as we pour our being into our performance, may it reach sky high with its creative energy." The collaboratively created dance Meta by choreographers Kaʻohinani Yojo Daniels, Amy Schiffner, and Jonathan Clarke Sypert with music by composer Keith Cross (Doctabarz) is inspired by the work and scholarship of Keith Cross and abstractly explores the ways in which lyricism is connected to cognitive function, language, learning, and cultural and environmental sustainability. Momentum, choreographed by Miller, focuses on strength and acceleration gained by bodies in motion. The piece features eight dancers and two actors with music by composers Takuma Itoh and Rafael Borges Amaral with interactive video. Looking for that Groove by Betsy Fisher is "an energetic contemporary duet that brings the dancers' vitality and exuberant creative energy to life."

The largest dance piece of the concert, Elements, is co-directed by Miller and composer John Signor and incorporates the entire company of dancers. Throughout an intensive rehearsal process Miller and Signor devised the piece by working together to explore the effects that sound waves have on the body in motion. Signor designed a contemplative sound score with crystal bowls, guitar, nose flute, and vocalizations while Miller created powerful core movement phrases with the dancers embodying the concepts of Air, Water, Fire, and Earth. A mesmerizing scenic design element for this dance includes a large floor to ceiling fabric flowing across the stage co-created by Maile Speetjens (costumes) and Michelle Bisbee (scenic).

The concert will also include behind-the-scenes movement-based media art films by Larry Asakawa. Rehearsal directors Sami L.A. Akuna, Hee Ra Yoo, Erika Sanchez, Terry Slaughter, Katelyn Wyatt, and assistant director Crystal Morales are actively involved in preparing the performers for the November show. The production includes lighting designs by M.F.A. candidate Rebecca Mahar, costume designs by Speetjens, Hannah Schauer Galli, and M.F.A. candidate Devin Walters, with video projections by Bisbee and Rick Greaver.

For more information about the show and access to the link to purchase tickets online 24/7 please visit manoa.hawaii.edu/liveonstage/form. For ticketing or accessibility questions please email the box office at ktbox@hawaii.edu.

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