Hula meets performance art at Highways

Through the use of hula, theater and performance art, E Nana I Ke Kumu: Look to the Source, written and performed by Leilani Chan, exposes the struggles of identity, displacement and survival in today's Hawai'i, a colonized land. It premieres at Highways Performance Space on Thursday, March 19 and runs through Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, March 20, 21, and 22. All performances are at 8:30pm. The Opening Night Benefit on March 19 is sponsored by Ka Pa Hula O Wahineali'i and tickets are $20.00 per person, including Hawaiian food pupu reception. Subsequent performances are $15.00 per person. Reservations can be made through Tickets LA at (213) 660-8587.

Utilizing the haku (weaving) of dance, poetry, story and music, this groundbreaking solo work portrays the story of contemporary souls searching to reclaim their heritage, their honor and the lost memories of a shattered homeland. Exploding the images of the islands as a "simple care-free coconut and palm tree playground," these voices cry out their concern for Hawai'i's future. Exploring cultural exploitation, racial prejudice, economic crises and fights over native lands, these characters search for the true Hawai'i. E Nana is a journey that travels from Hawai'i to the mainland and back asking the audience and the characters themselves to "look to the source."

Directed by Cameron Mahealani Ahia, E Nana is a unique collaboration between Chan, haumana (student), and Clarice Wahineali'i Nuhi, kumu hula (teacher ), connecting the spiritual art form of hula to its original purpose and power as a sacred cultural practice used to educate and perpetuate Hawaiian language, customs and oral history. Appearing with Chan is percussionist Jesse Acuña and Ahia on vocals.

Born and raised in Honolulu, Hawai'i, Leilani Chan is a Los Angeles based artist committed to performance for, by and about people of color. Her work as a playwright, performer, director and curator has been presented at the Japan American Theater, Torrance Cultural Arts Center, EWP, LATC, Highways Performance Space and various other venues throughout the Los Angeles area. As Co-curator and Assistant Project Director for Treasure in the House: Highways' Asian Pacific American Performance Art Series, Chan curated Kalo, Highways first ever weekend of Native Hawaiian performance and performance art and was director of Kalo Project '97, a collective play entitled How Close Are You to the Kalo. As Artistic Director and founder of TeAda Productions, Chan has brought together members of LA's Hawaiian community to create performances that meld the issues of today's Hawai'i with the perpetuation of the traditional Hawaiian performance art, hula. E Nana was developed through the help of a partial commission from the New England Foundation for the Arts while the company was in residency at the New WORKS for a New WORLD summer play lab in Amherst, MA.

Highways is located at 1651 18th Street in Santa Monica's 18th Street Arts Complex, one half-block north of Olympic Blvd. Parking is available at Highways and on nearby streets. Further information and reservations for the public may be obtained by calling Tickets LA at 213-660-8587 or through e-mail at Teada@usa.net.

More info: LUCY LIN, (310) 826-7596

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