THURSDAY-MARCH 1
>> UH students dance up a storm
Dance fans can kick up their heels at Winter Footholds: “Kaleidoscope,” the annual concert featuring works by University of Hawaii-Manoa dance department students.
Directed by professor Peiling Kao, the show feature 11 dances, including masters student Sophia Carter’s thesis work “PolypHony, Opus 42,” for which nine dancers respond to the music of Bach, Beethoven and Vivaldi. “It’s delightful, sweet. It’s whimsical and responds to the music beautifully,” Kao said.
Carter’s energetic, multifacted work inspired the theme of the entire concert, “Kaleidoscope.”
The wide-ranging program includes an array of dance styles, such as a ballet choreographed by John Landovsky, recently retired founder of the Hawaii State Ballet. Reina Yamashita, who studied ballet with Landovsky as a youngster, will perform the work “as a tribute to her teacher,” Kao said. “It’s a very delightful, small ballet piece.”
Certain works are very personal in nature, as with Madison Eagar’s “Interoception.” Set to the sound of sirens, it was inspired by a knee injury Eagar suffered years ago. “She tried to recall the feeling and then the event she encountered,” Kao said. “Then she gathered the information from her physical feelings and emotional feelings … and created an abstract movement piece to this inspiration.”
The program includes hip-hop choreography by Angel Bayot, J.R. Quilos and Angelica Balanay; and Tavehi Tafiti’s “Coming Home,” a modern piece described as “inspired by oceanic movement,” performed with Lihau Ichinose.
WINTER FOOTHOLDS: KALEIDOSCOPE
>> Where: Earle Ernst Lab Theatre at Kennedy Theatre, 1770 East-West Road
>> When: 7:30 p.m. Feb. 26-29, 2 p.m. March 1
>> Cost: $8-$18
>> Info: 944-2697, etickethawaii.com
FRIDAY-SUNDAY
>> Bid aloha to Mai Tai Bar
The Mai Tai Bar at Ala Moana Center, long a center for upbeat music from local artists, will close after this weekend under its current management, leaving just a few more days to drop in on this popular meeting place.
Drinks and food will continue until Sunday, along with live entertainment. Enjoy acts like the Typical Hawaiians (5 p.m. Friday), who won the Na Hokuhanohano Award for reggae in 2000; or 3 Plus (9 p.m. on Saturday), who won in 2003.
On Sunday, Island/contemporary soul artist Siaosi closes down the house, starting at 9 p.m.
There’s little sign the Mai Tai Bar wasn’t popular with customers. The bar consistently placed among the tops in popularity polls by the Star-Advertiser, Honolulu Magazine and Lyft over the last few years. New owners are taking over the location, with future plans for the spot still undisclosed.
MAI TAI BAR CLOSING WEEKEND
>> Where: Ala Moana Center, 3rd floor
>> When: Opens at noon; music begins at 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 1:30 p.m. Sunday
>> Cost: Free
>> Info: 947-2900, maitaibar.com
SATURDAY
>> John Craigie brings ‘topical’ folk songs
Singer/songwriter John Craigie brings his melancholy wit back to The Republik this weekend.
The Portland, Ore.,-based artist has a significant local fan in Jack Johnson, who connected with Craigie after listening to Craigie’s music in his car while on tour. Johnson subsequently invited Craigie to open for him on major dates in Johnson’s 2017 and 2018 tours. Johnson has also been known to appear on stage during Craigie’s appearances, including his last Honolulu shows. (Another fan is kung fu cowboy Chuck Norris.)
Craigie is an entertainer in the traditional troubadour vein, weaving comedic yarns among heartfelt songs about troubled relationships (“Let’s Talk This Over, When We’re Sober”) and flawed paradises (“I am California” and “Coldest Colorado”), often finding connections between the two. His latest album is “Scarecrow,” released in 2018, which appropriately enough was recorded analog and initially released only on vinyl.
Craigie calls himself a “topical song writer” who was inspired by Bob Dylan, Tom Paxton and Woody Guthrie. Accompanying himself on guitar and harmonica, and singing with a distinct twang in his voice, he fills their shoes nicely.
JOHN CRAIGIE
>> Where: The Republik
>> When: 7 p.m. Saturday
>> Cost: $20-$25
>> Info: 941-7469, jointherepublik.com
FRIDAY
>> Shakuhachi master Riley Lee joins quartet in new music
Riley Lee, the shakuhachi master who was introduced to the Japanese instrument here in Hawaii, performs here with the Enigma Quartet from Australia on Friday.
Lee was a student at Roosevelt High when he first heard the shakuhachi, a bamboo flute capable of producing a remarkable range of colors and tones, even though it has just five finger holes. He was so taken with it that he traveled to Japan in the 1970s to study it, becoming the first non-Japanese to receive the title dai shihan or Grand Master. He has since received advanced music degrees from the University of Hawaii-Manoa and from University of Sydney. Now based in Australia, he performs, teaches and tours extensively, and has produced more than 30 recordings, including three with Maui slack-key guitarist Jeff Peterson.
The members of the Enigma Quartet — violinists Marianne Edwards and Kerry Martin, violist Elizabeth Woolnough, and cellist Rowena MacNeish — play for major orchestras in Australia. They began playing together as music students busking on sidewalks and are now one of Australia’s foremost string quartets.
Lee and the quartet will present their 2017 project “Five Elements,” which features newly commissioned works inspired by the universal elements of earth, air, water, fire and ether. With Lee’s shakuhachi producing everything from sweet, pure tones to reedy, breathy notes, combined with the singing, plucking and even scratching sounds that can be created on string instruments, it should provide an intriguing soundscape.
RILEY LEE AND THE ENIGMA QUARTET
>> Where: Orvis Auditorium, University of Hawaii-Manoa
>> When: 7:30 p.m. Friday
>> Cost: $20-$45
>> Info: 956-8246, honoluluchambermusicseries.org
