A new season of dance begins
Multi-cultural, expressive troupes come to Maui
Though frequently overshadowed by season openings of theater productions, a new season of dance has also begun on Maui. Last week Maui’s contemporary Adaptations Dance Theater held a master class at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center in Kahului, led by co-artistic directors, Hallie Hunt and Amelia Couture.
ADT co-hosts the “Dance Maui” festival next month and is currently accepting applications from dance troupes to perform at this year’s festival. The third annual “Dance Maui 2017” will take * * For more information about ADT and the Dance Maui festival visit www.adaptationsdancetheater.com.
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This weekend, four nights of dancing commences at the second annual “Maui Salsa Bachata Congress” from 9:30 p.m. until 2 a.m. nightly beginning tonight through Sunday at the Sheraton Maui Resort and Spa in Kaanapali.
The festival will feature dance classes in salsa, bachata, kizomba and orisa from beginning to advanced, plus performances by Emily and Junior Alabi from Los Angeles, Ekaterina Ivanova from Russia, Sandra Mirley from Peru, Charles Ogar from Texas, Javier Rebollar from Mexico, Edwin Rivera from Puerto Rico, Luc Tshiboyi from Florida, Deivy Johan Zuniga from Colombia, two-time Latin Grammy-nominee Voz A Voz and many more.
* For more information or to purchase tickets visit www.mauisalsacongress.com.
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The Maui Arts and Cultural Center recently announced four new dance productions with tickets available to the public beginning Tuesday.
Award-winning kumu hula and recording artist, Napua Greig will showcase music and hula from her brand new release, “Makawalu” during “Mohala Mai” at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 21 in the Castle Theater.
* Grieg and over 100 dancers from Halau Na Lei Kaumaka O Uka present “Mohala Mai.” General admission tickets are $36 (plus applicable fees). For more information or to purchase tickets for any MACC event, go to the box office, call 242-7469 or visit www.mauiarts.org.
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The following week New Zealand’s Okareka Dance Company presents “Mana Wahine.” Established to fuse contemporary dance with indigenous Maori themes, ODC has evolved into one of New Zealand’s most sought after and prolific dance companies. Guided by Maori culture, ODC strives to produce evocative, beautiful dance works that tell bold, spiritual stories of New Zealand to audiences around the globe.
* Performance is at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 26 in the Castle Theater. General admission tickets range from $12 to $65 with a 10 percent discount for MACC members and 1/2 price for kids under 12 (plus applicable fees).
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Additional dance companies scheduled to visit Maui this season include Minneapolis’ Ananya Dance Theatre and New York City’s Complexions Contemporary Ballet.
Ananya Dance Theatre brings “Shyamali: Sprouting Words” to Maui. Ananya describes themselves as a professional, contemporary Indian-American dance company comprised primarily of women artists of color and cultural activists working through dance to engage audiences, build community and move towards justice and beauty. They celebrate proactive dissent, recognizing the courage of women who speak up to sustain communities against injustice.
With dance as a choreographic response to global issues, the company is part of a social justice movement inspiring audiences through visual and emotional engagement.
* Performance is at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 22 in the Castle Theater. General admission tickets range from $12 to $65 with a percent discounts for MACC members and 1/2 price for kids under 12 (plus applicable fees).
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Complexions Contemporary Ballet was founded as a reinvention of dance through a groundbreaking mix of methods, styles, and cultures believing that dance should be about removing boundaries, not reinforcing them. Having presented an exciting vision of human movement on five continents to over twenty million people, Complexions bears witness to a world that is fluid, changeable, and culturally interconnected, particularly with their acclaimed new work, “Stardust,” a tribute to David Bowie.
* Complexions Contemporary Ballet presents “Bach to Bowie.” Performance at 7:30 p.m. March 22 in the Castle Theater. General admission tickets range from $12 to $65 with a percent discount for MACC members and 1/2 price for kids under 12 (plus applicable fees).
This weekend
ProArts concludes “The Elephant Man” by Bernard Pomerance, directed by Sally Sefton.
* Performances at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and at 3 p.m. Sunday at the ProArts Playhouse in Kihei. Tickets are $26. For more information or to purchase tickets for any ProArts event call 463-6550 or visit www.proartsmaui.com.
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Maui OnStage continues its free, one-night-only theater series, ONO! on Monday with a performance by the Maui Community Band. The free ONO! performances happen every second Monday of the month at the Historic Iao Theater in Wailuku. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.mauionstage.com or call 242-6969.