A performance coming to the University of Hawaii at Hilo Performing Arts Center this week melds traditional dance and music with the contemporary. Since their first collaboration, “Imaginary Homelands,” which premiered in January 2022, choreographer Yukie Shiroma, taiko master Kenny Endo, Okinawan music grand master Norman Kaneshiro and music educator Derek Fujio have been working on a continuation, “(re)imaging Homelands,” through original music and choreography. Shiroma has been studying modern dance and Okinawan dance for over 40 years and currently teaches Okinawan dance courses for the University of Hawaii at Manoa Department of Theatre and Dance.
In this show, Shiroma is using traditional Okinawan dance movements to tell a story within the context of modern dance while still honoring the two as separate styles. The outcome is a fusion of the past and present. “By studying a culture’s dance, you can see and understand what was happening 300 years ago, because dance is most often a reaction to the current environment around someone,” Shiroma said.
“Dance is a hand-me-down from teacher to student, so dances are always changing. I think there is a way to continue and respect those traditions while still in the context of our present day.” According to Shiroma, one of the main inspirations for both “Imaginary Homelands” and “(re)imagining Homelands,” is Salman Rushdie’s book of essays, “Imaginary Homelands,” which are the fictional creations o.