Hands Percussion Team from Malaysia
Drumming Up a Storm!
Special guests: Kenny Endo Taiko Ensemble

Sat., Sept. 18, 8:00 – 9:30 p.m.
Sun., Sept. 19, 2:00 – 3:30 p.m.

Kennedy Theatre

Combining mesmerizing theatrics with dynamic, multicultural rhythms, the renowned Hands Percussion Team drum ensemble from Malaysia has been creating quite a sensation at performances around the world since it was formed in 1997 out of its founders’ desire to bring new creativity to Chinese-Malaysian drumming traditions. Since then, the troupe has received stellar critical acclaim for its approach combining respect for cultural tradition with innovative, contemporary performances on instruments drawn from a diverse range of percussion cultures.

In recent years, Hands Percussion Team has thrilled audiences at numerous international performances, ranging from Southeast Asia and China to Europe and the Middle East. According to the ensemble’s website, “the sound of a drum is part of a universal human bond, interconnecting cultures and peoples.”

The ensemble’s Kennedy Theatre performances will feature a dozen of the troupe’s energetic young drummers, whose rigorous training includes intense physical and mental discipline in addition to musical development. Also performing will be the acclaimed, Hawai‘i-based Kenny Endo Taiko Ensemble.

For more information on Hands Percussion Team, visit hands.com.my. This event is co-sponsored by the East-West Center and the University of Hawai`i’s Kennedy Theatre. The performances are part of the EWC’s 50th anniversary year celebrations.

Ticket Prices:
$16 Advance Super Saver until Sept. 5;
$20 Regular; $18 Seniors, Military, UH Faculty/Staff; $12 Students; $5 UHM Students with ID. (All service fees included.)

Tickets are now available online at ETicketsHawaii.com; beginning Sept 13, tickets will be also be available at Kennedy Theatre Box Office (M-F 10 a.m.-1 p.m.; Sept 18 from 5:00 p.m., Sept. 19 from 1:00 p.m.), or by phone, 944-2697.

The Hands Percussion Team will also perform Sept. 23 at Maui Arts & Cultural Center, Sept. 27 at Kahilu Theatre, and Sept. 29 at BYU-Hawaii.

School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Asian Studies Program (Ref#0084385)
University of Hawaii at Manoa
Deadline: Continuous – application review begins 1 February 2011
Other Conditions: Pending position clearance and availability of funds. To begin 08/01/2011.

We seek a dynamic, committed teacher and scholar in the performing arts of Asia who will contribute significantly to the Asian Studies Program and its vision of educating undergraduate and graduate students about Asia.

The successful applicant will have the ability to make Asian cultural sensibilities, knowledge, and epistemologies an integral part of his/her course work, and be able to work collaboratively with diverse groups of students and faculty within the university and in the community.

A faculty member in the Asian Studies Program has a minimal instruction load of four courses per year and is on duty for 9 months.

The selected faculty shall teach designated courses in the Asian Studies Program, conduct research and publish projects commensurate with Asian Studies Program standards appropriate to his/her rank, carry out curriculum development related to Asian Studies, and participate in Asian Studies Program committees as requested.

Must be able to contribute to and compliment the strengths of the Asian Studies Program as well as to those of the School’s Asia related National Resource Centers and be willing to provide service to the institution and academic community.

* Earned PhD from a college or university of recognized standing in the humanities or related discipline commensurate with the focus of hire (performing arts of Asia).

* Demonstrated knowledge of and experience in the performing arts of Asia, and strength in interdisciplinary teaching and scholarship.

* Have an active record in research/publication and strong instructional skills.

* Evidence of continued participation in scholarly and academic activities at the college/ university level, and a willingness and ability to enhance the image of the School and Program in the community.

Submit a letter of interest addressing the fulfillment of the minimum and any additional qualifications, a current vitae, and three letters of reference from professionals in the field competent to assess your work to Professor Michael Aung-Thwin at the address below. Official transcripts (from institution to institution) that reflect degree and course work are due at the time of hire.

Address:
Professor Michael Aung-Thwin
University of Hawaii at Manoa
School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Asian Studies Program
1890 East-West Road, Moore 413
Honolulu, HI 96822

Inquiries:
Professor Michael Aung-Thwin, Chair, Asian Studies Program; 808-956-5962; aungthwi@hawaii.edu

The University of Hawaii is an equal opportunity/affirmative action institution and is committed to a policy of nondiscrimination on the basis of race, sex, gender identity and expression, age, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, status as a protected veteran, National Guard participation, breastfeeding, and arrest/court record (except as permissible under State law).

Employment is contingent on satisfying employment eligibility verification requirements of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986; reference checks of previous employers; and for certain positions, criminal history record checks.

In accordance with the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, annual campus crime statistics for the University of Hawaii may be viewed at: http://ope.ed.gov/security/, or a paper copy may be obtained upon request from the respective UH Campus Security or Administrative Services Office.

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A 35th Anniversary Presentation Featuring Dances Created and Performed by Garrett Kam
Wednesday, 21 July at 5:00 pm at Earl Ernst Lab Theatre, Kennedy Theatre, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI
Free admission

In 1975, an art student at the University of Hawai’i began studying Javanese dance.
Thirty-five years later he shares his choreographies that reflect his life.

Puspayoga (2006; 13 minutes)
Based on Javanese classical dance in the Yogyakarta style, this refined male solo honors all teachers past, present and future. It was inspired by a supernatural visit in Bali from Garrett’s late dance teacher, Sasminta Mardawa, at the exact moment of the earthquake on 27 May 2006 that devastated Yogyakarta. The solo song warns about being boastful from acquiring knowledge and advises to listen to the inner voice for guidance. The title means ‘Blossoming Meditation’ with Javanese vocal and gamelan music from the sultan’s palace in Yogyakarta.

costume change interlude (“Hamachijuyaa” played by Gamelan Sanga, Okinawa)

Oki-Jawa Journeys (2007 and 2008; 14 minutes)
Inspired by historical and cultural links between Okinawa and Java, these three dances blend movements from these two islands. “Hi, Sigh!” is a word play on the Okinawan “Haisai!” (Hello!) and Indonesian slang “Hai, sayang!” (Hey, sweetie!); a Javanese dance scarf is manipulated like an Okinawan flower garland using gentle female style dance. “Eisaa-ruu” blends movements from lively Okinawan eisaa dances done to welcome ancestral spirits with Javanese monkey dance; saaruu in Okinawan means ‘monkey’. “Fan-tasy” uses two fans which are manipulated like a Javanese dance sash and uses refined male movements. The musical pieces are by the groups Hae (Okinawa), Ukwanshin Kabudan (Hawaii), and Banjar Teretai Capung (Bali and Java), with interludes by Singaporean composer Dzul Rabul Jalil and Okinawan pop group Nenes.

costume change interlude (“Ashimizu Bushi” played by Gamelan Sanga, Okinawa)

Wayang Sampur-na (2010; 40 minutes)
In Javanese, sampurna means “ideal, perfect, pure”. A sampur is a long cloth sash used in Javanese dance to accentuate and extend movements. In this wayang (performance), dance sashes are used in different ways for presenting some of the most important scenes from the Ramayana, the eternal epic of devotion, separation and reunion. Masks and puppets of characters are created on stage with different colored sampur, animated and then pulled apart as the story unfolds with short narration between episodes. Mostly danced in the Javanese court style from Yogyakarta with some new interpretations, the performance includes elements from other parts of Indonesia (Bali and West Java), Okinawa, Taiwan, Cambodia, Thailand, Burma, India and Sri Lanka, as well as some improvisation and contemporary movements. This also is an autobiographical work of places visited and cultures studied by Garrett since 1975. A short Javanese dance introduces the four major character court styles of ogre king Ravana, monkey warrior Hanuman, refined hero Rama, and princess Sita. Narrative scenes are danced to traditional Javanese and Balinese melodies arranged for Western instruments by Canadian ethnomusicologist Colin McPhee, with opening and closing scenes using Asian inspired film music by Australian composer Elizabeth Drake.

GARRETT KAM was born in Hawaii but has lived in Southeast Asia for nearly 25 years, mostly in Java and Bali. He received his bachelor’s degree in Textiles and Asian Art History in 1976, and his master’s degree in Southeast Asian History and Asian Theatre in 1987 as an East-West Center Grantee (Institute of Culture and Communication, 1985-1987) from the University of Hawai’i. Garrett studied Javanese dance from 1975 to 1979 at the University of Hawai’i, and from 1979 to 1982 learned under master court teachers of the sultan’s palace in Yogyakarta, especially Sasminta Mardawa (KRT Sasmintadipura), Raden Sunartomo and Bambang Pudjasworo. Garrett was the first non-Javanese to regularly perform in the professional group of Mardawa Budaya and Pamulangan Beksa Ngayogyakarta schools of court dance and had his own troupe in Hawaii. As a Fulbright Grantee from 1987 to 1988, Garrett researched ritual in Bali where he has resided since then and is curator of the Neka Art Museum. He also serves as the only non-Balinese ritual assistant and offerings maker at one of the island’s most important Hindu-Buddhist temples.

Garrett has taught and performed Javanese dance in Hawaii at the University of Hawai’i, East-West Center, Mamiya Theatre, Leeward Community College, Kapi’olani Community College, Bishop Museum and Lyman House Museum; University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, Center for World Music at California Institute of the Arts in San Diego and the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), Lewis and Clark College in Oregon, Dartmouth College in New Hampshire; in Thailand at Chulalongkorn University, The Joe Louis Traditional Thai Puppet Theatre, The Siam Society, The James H.W. Thompson Foundation and Patravadi Theatre; in Cambodia at the Royal University of Fine Arts, Sovanna Phum Khmer Art Association and The Khmer Arts Theatre; in Japan at Okinawa Christian University, Okinawa Prefecture University of the Fine Arts and Meio University; in Korea at the National Centre for Traditional Korean Performing Arts in Busan; in Indonesia at Pondok Pekak Art Center and Setia Darma House of Masks and Puppets in Bali, and The Japan Foundation in Jakarta; in Singapore at the Chinese Opera Institute, Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore Art Museum, Peranakan Museum, LaSalle-SIA College of the Arts, National Institute of Education at Nanyang Technological University, Centre for the Arts at the National University of Singapore, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Maya Dance Theatre and Esplanade Theatres; in Taiwan at the Asian Cultural Council of Taipei and Lin Liu-Hsin Puppet Theatre Museum; and in Sri Lanka at the University of Peradeniya in Kandy.
In addition to arranging and choreographing Javanese court dances, Garrett also performs Okinawan dance which he studied from 1982 to 1987 in Hawaii. In 2007 he created a blend of it with Javanese dance called “Oki-Jawa” to show the historical links and similarities between the two cultures which he has presented in Singapore, Hawaii, Okinawa and Indonesia. As a Rockefeller Grantee, he collaborated with dancers and musicians from different countries for the Asia Pacific Performance Exchange program at UCLA in 2000, and served as cultural advisor for UCLA’s Art of Rice Traveling Theatre in 2002 and 2003. “Wayang Sampur-na” is his latest work created in 2010 using masks and puppets made from Javanese dance sashes with performance elements of different traditions. Garrett has also authored many books, articles and catalogs mostly on Southeast Asian visual and performing arts. His Ramayana in the Arts of Asia (Select Books, Singapore; Asia Books, Bangkok, 2000) is the most comprehensive and complete illustrated survey of the diverse literary, performing and artistic traditions of this epic. In addition, Garrett has served as curator and organizer for art exhibitions in Indonesia, the USA, Japan, Australia and Singapore. He has assisted with several UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage projects and a dance education program in Yogyakarta.

East-West Center International Conference
Sunday, 4 July at 4:00 pm at Hawai’i Convention Center, Room 316
Performance time: 40 minutes with no intermission, followed by discussion
Presented by Garrett Kam

In Javanese, sampurna means “ideal, perfect, pure”. A sampur is a long cloth sash used in Javanese dance to accentuate and extend movements. In this new solo wayang (performance) created and performed by Garrett Kam, dance sashes are given new meanings by being used in different ways for presenting some of the most important scenes from the Ramayana, the eternal epic of devotion, separation and reunion. Masks and puppets of characters are created on stage with different colored sampur, animated and then pulled apart as the story unfolds with short narration between episodes. Mostly danced in the Javanese court style from Yogyakarta with some new interpretations, the performance includes elements from other parts of Indonesia (Bali and West Java), India, Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Okinawa and Taiwan, as well as some improvisation and contemporary movements. In this way, “Wayang Sampur-na” is an autobiographical work of cultures studied and places visited by Garrett since 1975. In this performance, a short Javanese dance introduces the four major character court styles of ogre king Ravana, monkey warrior Hanuman, refined hero Rama, and princess Sita. The narrative scenes are danced to traditional Javanese and Balinese melodies arranged for Western instruments by Canadian ethnomusicologist Colin McPhee, with opening and closing scenes using Asian inspired film music by Australian composer Elizabeth Drake. This is the premiere of “Wayang Sampur-na: Epic Turning Points”.

GARRETT KAM was born in Hawaii but has lived in Southeast Asia for nearly 25 years, mostly in Java and Bali. He received his bachelor’s degree in Textiles and Asian Art History in 1976, and his master’s degree in Southeast Asian History and Asian Theatre in 1987 as an East-West Center Grantee (Institute of Culture and Communication, 1985-1987) from the University of Hawai’i. Garrett studied Javanese dance from 1975 to 1979 at the University of Hawai’i, and from 1979 to 1982 learned under master court teachers of the sultan’s palace in Yogyakarta, especially Sasminta Mardawa (KRT Sasmintadipura), Raden Sunartomo and Bambang Pudjasworo. Garrett was the first non-Javanese to regularly perform in the professional group of Mardawa Budaya and Pamulangan Beksa Ngayogyakarta schools of court dance and had his own troupe in Hawaii. As a Fulbright Grantee from 1987 to 1988, Garrett researched ritual in Bali where he has resided since then and is curator of the Neka Art Museum. He also serves as the only non-Balinese ritual assistant and offerings maker at one of the island’s most important Hindu-Buddhist temples.

Garrett has taught and performed Javanese dance in Hawaii at the University of Hawai’i, East-West Center, Mamiya Theatre, Leeward Community College, Kapi’olani Community College, Bishop Museum and Lyman House Museum; University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, Center for World Music at California Institute of the Arts in San Diego and the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), Lewis and Clark College in Oregon, Dartmouth College in New Hampshire; in Thailand at Chulalongkorn University, The Joe Louis Traditional Thai Puppet Theatre, The Siam Society, The James H.W. Thompson Foundation and Patravadi Theatre; in Cambodia at the Royal University of Fine Arts, Sovanna Phum Khmer Art Association and The Khmer Arts Theatre; in Japan at Okinawa Christian University, Okinawa Prefecture University of the Fine Arts and Meio University; in Korea at the National Centre for Traditional Korean Performing Arts in Busan; in Indonesia at Pondok Pekak Art Center and Setia Darma House of Masks and Puppets in Bali, and The Japan Foundation in Jakarta; in Singapore at the Chinese Opera Institute, Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore Art Museum, Peranakan Museum, LaSalle-SIA College of the Arts, National Institute of Education at Nanyang Technological University, Centre for the Arts at the National University of Singapore, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Maya Dance Theatre and Esplanade Theatres; in Taiwan at the Asian Cultural Council of Taipei and Lin Liu-Hsin Puppet Theatre Museum; and in Sri Lanka at the University of Peradeniya in Kandy.
In addition to arranging and choreographing Javanese court dances, Garrett also performs Okinawan dance which he studied from 1982 to 1987 in Hawaii. In 2007 he created a blend of it with Javanese dance called “Oki-Jawa” to show the historical links and similarities between the two cultures which he has presented in Singapore, Hawaii, Okinawa and Indonesia. As a Rockefeller Grantee, he collaborated with dancers and musicians from different countries for the Asia Pacific Performance Exchange program at UCLA in 2000, and served as cultural advisor for UCLA’s Art of Rice Traveling Theatre in 2002 and 2003. “Wayang Sampur-na” is his latest work created in 2010 using masks and puppets made from Javanese dance sashes with performance elements of different traditions. Garrett has also authored many books, articles and catalogs mostly on Southeast Asian visual and performing arts. His Ramayana in the Arts of Asia (Select Books, Singapore; Asia Books, Bangkok, 2000) is the most comprehensive and complete illustrated survey of the diverse literary, performing and artistic traditions of this epic. In addition, Garrett has served as curator and organizer for art exhibitions in Indonesia, the USA, Japan, Australia and Singapore. He has assisted with several UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage projects and a dance education program in Yogyakarta.

Saturday, 24 April 2010 at 7:30p.m. in the Barbara Smith Amphitheatre, UH Mānoa
Presented by UHM Music Department in cooperation with the Hawaiʻi Gamelan Ensemble

I Made Widana, director, UH Balinese Gamelan
Byron Moon, director, UH Javanese Gamelan Ensemble
Pak Hardja Susilo, director emeritus

The UH Gamelan Ensembles present an evening of Javanese Gamelan music and Balinese Gamelan music & dance at the UH Music Department’s Barbara Smith Amphitheater on Saturday, April 24, 2010, 7:30 p.m. The concert will feature a full Javanese Gamelan orchestra, a Balinese Gamelan Gong Kebyar, and duets of traditional Balinese Gender.

more info | Price: $12 general admission, $8 students & seniors at the door

Explore Balinese music through hands-on experience with the different instruments in a Gamelan ensemble. Practical experience is complemented by explanations of the performing arts and their role in Balinese society. Gain cultural awareness as you discover how the music and the dance of Bali work together. No musical background is required.
Course Information: Jun 2-Jul 14 • Wed/Mon • 5:30-6:20pm • 12 mtgs • No class Jul 5 • Location TBA (Please check later for room assignment) • $95

Please register by no later than May 27, 2010
Call 808•956•8400 or go to www.outreach.hawaii.edu/noncredit today

I Made Widana, BA in Balinese Traditional Music, has taught Balinese Gamelan music to students from Japan, the United States, Canada, the Netherlands, and England since 1996. Widana started learning traditional music and dance with his family as a child. He later received formal training at KOKAR, the performing arts high school in Sukawati, Bali and then received his BA in traditional music at the Arts Institute in Denpasar, Bali. As a musician in a performing arts ensemble, Widana has participated in tours to the US, Japan, and Europe. When in Bali, Widana teaches traditional gamelan music in villages, formal music studios, and dance studios. Since taking up residency in Honolulu, Widana has begun exposing local students and audiences to Balinese Gamelan music.

Anna Reynolds received her BA in Music composition from San Francisco State University and MA in Asian Studies from the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa. She will begin her doctorate in Asian Theatre with a focus on Southeast Asian performing arts at the University of Hawai‘i in Fall 2010. She has been passionate about Balinese culture and performing arts since residing in Bali to undertake intensive study of Balinese music and dance in 2003.

Doris Duke Theatre, Honolulu Academy of Art, Honolulu, HI, USA
$25; $20 Academy members; $10 students with ID

April 16 & 17 at 8 p.m.
April 18 at 4 p.m.

Honolulu’s diverse dance communities are integrated in this innovative program showcasing professional and semi-professional dancers, who will perform either in pairs or in concert with a musician. The program includes the premiere of a new contemporary ballet piece Minou Lallemand choreographed for Duets; Japanese dance set by Gertrude Tsutsumi; Korean dance by Halla Huhm student Mary Jo Freshley; Balinese dance by Desiree A. Seguritan, and a special appearance by Los Angeles-based Simeon Den, back in town to perform a poignant modern-dance duet about mortality. Three sets of three duets (no longer than five minutes each) will be performed, with two brief intermissions.

more info | purchase tickets

7:30 PM , Saturday, 28 November 2009
Orvis Auditorium, UH Mānoa
$12 general / $8 students & seniors

Javanese Wayang Kulit (Shadow Puppet Theatre)
Presented in cooperation with the Hawaii Gamelan Society

Directed by Byron Moon, UH Gamelan Ensemble
Emeritus Director: Hardja Susilo
Guest Artists: Widiyanto, dhalang (puppeteer) and Sutrisno Hartana (musician)

In the never ending feud between the Pendhawa and the Kurawa clan, the devious Kurawa Prime Minister, Sengkuni, manages to coerce the young innocent Pendhawa princes into placing their estate as a wager in a Kurawa sponsored fixed game of dice. Losing the game, the Pendhawa are exiled to the treacherous Mrentani forest. The Pendhawa’s attempt to open the forest to establish a dwelling place encounters fierce resistance from the genie, ghosts, and ghouls of the forest. With great effort the Pendhawa defeat the denizens of Mrentani, and establish a new prosperous state of Amarta.

Master puppeteer Widiyanto joins the UH Gamelan Ensemble to present a wayang kulit performance in celebration of the 75th birthday of the ensemble’s founding director, Hardja Susilo. As a concession to western audiences, the performance time will be reduced in length to around two hours from the traditional eight. The story will be told in both Javanese and English and accompanied by a full gamelan orchestra.

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A (Balinese) Tempest

Directed by Larry Reed, Artistic Director of ShadowLight Productions, San Francisco
Musical Director: I Nyoman Sumandhi, Bali

Production Director: Kirstin Pauka,University of Hawai’i at Manoa

Jan 25, 26, 31, Feb 1, 2, 3 2008

This unusual adaptation of Shakespeare’s most musical and magical play is about a sorcerer and dethroned Milanese duke (Prospero), who has been banished with his daughter Miranda to an enchanted island.

Guest artist Larry Reed fuses Balinese and Elizabethan elements with his hallmark shadowcasting method, which utilizes a giant screen and live performers to create a magical shadow theatre performance. The production will also feature live musical accompaniment by the UH Balinese Gamelan Ensemble under the direction of guest artist I Nyoman Sumandhi. 

For more information go to hawaii.edu/theatre

Act I of Luck and Loss: Manandin’s Gamble

Luck and Loss: Manandin’s Gamble

Traditional Indonesian Randai
Directed by Kirstin Pauka
Guest Master Artists: Mohamad Halim and Saparman Bin Jamaludin

Jan. 28, 29, Feb. 3, 4, 5, 6 2005

A traditional West Sumatran Randai folk play featuring martial arts, dance, singing, music, and pants-slapping percussion, Manandin’s Gamble is a traditional coming-of-age story about love, gambling, and adventure. Master artists from West Sumatra, Mohamad Halim, internationally renowned master of traditional Minangkabau music, and Saparman Bin Jamaludin, master-teacher of Randai dance, acting, and silat (martial arts) will provide specialized training. UHM is the only university in the world that produces Indonesian Randai in English.