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Patrick Makuakāne is a Hawaiian dancer, chanter, kumu hula and cultural preservationist. He is the founder of Nā Lei Hulu i ka Wēkiu.
Patrick Makuakāne | |
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| Website | https://naleihulu.org |
Career
editIn 1985, he founded a company of dancers, known as Nā Lei Hulu i ka Wēkiu in San Francisco.[1][2]
The company's style blends traditional movements with non-Hawaiian music like opera, electronic, dance, alternative, and pop. The company's visually captivating stage productions showcase both hula mua and authentic, traditional pieces.
He frequently incorporates English-language lyrics, popular music, and modern attire and theatrical presentations. His extended narrative performances challenge stereotypes and delve into both historical and contemporary threats to Native Hawaiian people and culture. The Natives Are Restless (1996) examined the history of colonialism and the ongoing occupation of Hawai’i, highlighting the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom and the push for sovereignty by Native Hawaiians. “Salva Mea,” a frenetic, communal dance set to progressive house music, illustrates the damage caused by Christian missionaries in the nineteenth century.[3]
The creation and performances of The Natives Are Restless were documented in Constance Hale's 2016 book of the same name.[4]
In 2000, he began intensive traditional studies with hula master Mae Kamāmalu Klein in Hawai‘i and, after three years, achieved the recognized status of kumu hula. This achievement culminated in a traditional ‘uniki ‘ailolo graduation ceremony, connecting Makuakāne to a hula lineage stretching back for generations.[5]
Makuakāne is dedicated to preserving Hawaiian language, history, and culture through his choreography and hālau (school), which provides classes for both adults and children. He was inspired to create Ka Leo Kānaka, The Voice of the People, in 2013 after his hālau participated in a project aimed at digitizing Hawaiian-language newspapers. Nā Lei Hulu transcribed more than 1,200 pages, securing a first-place position. Makuakāne considers this as one of the most important achievements of the hālau.[6] This work narrates stories from twentieth-century Hawai’i, set to a variety of musical genres from that era.
Makuakāne and his company collaborated with Hawaiian transgender artists to produce the full-length piece MĀHŪ (2022).[7]
Makuakāne has performed numerous times at the Burning Man festival.[8][9]
Alongside his role as a kumu hula at his school, Makuakāne also acts as a spiritual and cultural advisor for the Native Hawaiian Religious Group at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center.[10]
Awards and honors
edit- 2018 - lifetime of achievement by the San Francisco Arts Commission's Legacy Award [11]
- 2019 - received a Dance/USA Fellowship for his emphasis on dance for social change[12]
- 2020 - recipient of the Hewlett 50 Arts Commission, supporting the creation and premier of 50 exceptional works by world-class artists[13]
- 2023 - MacArthur Fellows Program recipient[3]
He has been featured on episode 96 of the This Is Love podcast.[14]
References
edit- ^ "About".
- ^ "This Isn't Your Grandmother's Hula". Los Angeles Times. 5 August 2001.
- ^ a b "Patrick Makuakāne". www.macfound.org.
- ^ Hale, Constance (11 October 2016). The Natives Are Restless. SparkPress. ISBN 978-1-943006-06-9.
- ^ "Kumu Patrick Makuakāne".
- ^ "Hawaiian Language Newspaper Project".
- ^ "Māhū".
- ^ "Patrick Makuakāne on Balancing Tradition and Innovation".
- ^ "Hula travels from Burning Man to Times Square at SF's Palace".
- ^ Namkung, Victoria (December 31, 2023). "'Hula is my church': how Patrick Makuakāne is reinvigorating Hawaii's traditional dance". The Guardian.
- ^ "Artistic Legacy Grant | San Francisco Arts Commission".
- ^ "Dance/USA Artist Fellows".
- ^ "Hewlett 50 Arts Commissions".
- ^ "This Is Love".