Palace Theater by Eye of Einstein via Flickr
Inspiring the audience to recognize and honor the beauty and richness of the Hawaiian culture has been one of the goals of Hawaiiana Live! Since its launch on Jan.10, 2007, it has educated and entertained 4,000-plus people; Yuen hopes many more will come.
The program spotlights various aspects of Hawaiian culture through storytelling, videos, hula, oli (chants) and mele (songs). A changing slate of Big Island artists, musicians, kupuna (elders) and kumu (teachers) is featured each week. –Honolulu Star Bulletin
It’s a Big Island battle. It’s so easy to be seduced by the beautiful beaches, by the sunset cocktail hours, by the spectacular nature away from the beach. And sure, you can sit a a long table under the palms and watch a luau where the drums pound and shockingly fit young men spin flaming knives and the hula girls are so pretty you wonder how the missionaries could stand to cover them up. Getting away from culture as commodity can be a challenge.
Hawaiiana Live! is a weekly program at Hilo’s grand old Palace Theater. “The program spotlights various aspects of Hawaiian culture through storytelling, videos, hula, oli (chants) and mele (songs). A changing slate of Big Island artists, musicians, kupuna (elders) and kumu (teachers) is featured each week.” What a great opportunity. There’s a different program every Wednesday, so just because your neighbor saw the one about native plants doesn’t mean you will, you might end up in the land of ancient myth and legend.
Most visitors to the Big Island set up base on the Kona side, zipping over to Hilo or up to the volcano for the day only. That’s a shame – they’re missing out on all the great things Hilo has to offer. Hawaiiana Live! is one more reason to stay a little longer on the windward side.
The full calendar for Hawaiiana Live is here.