Saturday, September 7, 2024 | 1 PM - 4 PM
Join us on Saturday, September 7, 2024, from 1 PM – 4 PM at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center for an unforgettable afternoon of vibrant Hawaiian arts and culture. Featuring performances by Halau o Keikiali’i (ancient and modern Hula), Hawaiian music artists Kumu Hula Kawika Alfiche on `ukulele and Steven Kanahe Espaniola on Hawaiian slack key guitar and falsetto, and many Hawaiian arts and crafts vendors.
Don’t miss this celebration of Hawaiian culture, tradition, and community!
OACC’s “Celebrating Our HeART-filled Heritage” Asian American & Pacific Islander performing arts series will provide a platform for local Asian and Asian Pacific Islander culturally relevant artists that inspire intergenerational and cross-cultural exchange.
About the Performers
Hālau O Keikiali’i‘s primary focus is on cultural traditions, including hula kahiko (ancient dance), hula `auana (modern dance), oli (chant), mele (traditional songs), himeni (modern songs), nā mea hula (arts, crafts, implements), lole hula (hula attire), ‘ōlelo (language), and mo’olelo (stories).
Following tradition, they share what they learn with different communities so that others too can benefit from a better understanding and appreciation of Hawaiian culture. It is within the stories told in the mele, and its morals and values, that people can truly be enriched in their personal lives.
Hālau O Keikiali’i hopes to reach people far and wide, touching everyone who may or may not be exposed to the Hawaiian culture and sharing with them in this spirit.
Kumu Hula Kawika Alfiche is the Kumu Hula (Master teacher) for Hālau o Keikiali’i, is the Director for the Kaululehua Hawaiian Cultural Center in South San Francisco, and has been teaching hula and Hawaiian cultural arts for over 25 years. With a mission to preserve and perpetuate all things Hawaiian, Kawika spends his life learning, teaching, and sharing his culture through the hula and cultural arts, and continues to teach throughout the globe.
Raised in Aliamanu, Hawai’i and now residing in the California Bay Area, Steven Kanahe Espaniola is a self taught multi-instrumentalist Hawaiian artist specializing in Ki Ho’alu (Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar), ‘Ukulele, Upright Bass, and Leo Ki’e Ki’e (Traditional Hawaiian falsetto). Of Hawaiian, Filipino, Chinese and Spanish descent, his ethnicity is as diverse as his unique sound which preserves the integrity of the traditional with a flourish of the modern.
