Peter Rockford Espiritu, who has used his Tau Dance Theater to illustrate everything from nature to the history of the islands, turned to Hawaiian legend for his latest production, "Poli’ahu: Goddess of Maunakea," but didn’t feel obligated to limit himself to Hawaii’s traditional dance.

"What we’re doing is basically honoring the oral traditions of Hawaii, using traditional and nontraditional genres," he said. "When you see the opening, you have hula, but you also have ballet, girls en pointe. You have modern dancers. They’re all telling the same story in their own genre."

The story Espiritu and his 30-member company are telling is of Poli’ahu, goddess of the snows of Mauna Kea, and her sister goddesses, who represent other natural features of the volcano. They interact with Pele, the goddess of fire, with the result being predictably explosive, but also fortuitous.

"When Poli’ahu and Pele get together, there’s conflict, but there’s an abundance of land created and the bountiful benefits of what happens when land is created," Espiritu said. "There’s creation of plants and animals. And who benefits from that? We do."

The production gives Espiritu an expansive palette to work from beyond the variety of dance styles. He called on Na Hoku Hanohano winner Pierre Grill to compose original music for the soundtrack, which also includes Hawaiian chant accompanied by symphonic instruments and traditional Hawaiian music on instruments like the ipu. A "soundscape" that draws on nature provides a background for the ear in the same way a landscape does for the eye.

The choreography, meanwhile, incorporates classical ballet, modern dance, traditional hula and a hula-inspired dance form that Espiritu is developing. At a recent rehearsal these various dance styles blended together seamlessly, with ballet dancers twirling and hula noho dancers kneeling and reaching upward, indicating mauka and kuahiwi (mountains and upland forests).

Each style appeared at times playful and graceful, at others physical and athletic. A delicately balanced yet powerful lift, using techniques developed by the modern dance group Pilobulus, enabled the dancers to portray a moo, a Hawaiian deity that takes a reptilian form.

Even capoeira, the spinning, angular Brazilian martial art, was on display during a fight scene between Pele and her rivals. "(Pele) wouldn’t necessarily do capoeira, but the movement — does it lend itself to Pele?" Espiritu said. "I think so. It’s bombastic. I think it’s strong."

TO HELP clarify the story, a narrator, in the form of a husband of one of the goddesses, tells the legend of Poli’ahu. "This is the first time I am using a narrative to help tell the story of the dance," said Espiritu, who wrote the script, "just in case you don’t get it."

After nearly 15 years of performances, Espiritu hopes more people here begin to understand his art and that he is trying to perpetuate Hawaiian culture as best he can. He spent years studying hula before going to New York to study ballet and modern dance.

He consults regularly with Hawaiian scholar Puakea Nogelmeier to ensure that his interpretation of legends and hula are accurate, and relies on others to get the chant and hula correct.

"A lot of people really don’t know what we do," he said. "I travel a lot, and globally, people get it more than here. I hope that one day (local people) get it.

"I’m being as respectful as I can. I love my hula. I love the culture. But Hawaii’s a living, thriving, vibrant culture, and the only way for our culture to survive is for us to create for now, for today."