Never having heard of the Hawaii State Art Museum, First Friday, or Live on the Lawn; I was pleasantly surprised by the monthly event. It made me wish I had a better camera, a better camcorder, and more skill. Luckily you don't need any of that to enjoy the living art.
The home grown aerial acrobatics group Samadhi twisted up and spun down ribbons of silk, which flowed from the branches of ancient trees to touch the earth. Without a doubt, countless hours of training have earned these performers the strength and flexibility to make the difficult look easy. Crowds gathered outside of the fence to watch their graceful dance, and inspired children spun and twirled in between performances.
Instead of recorded music, local boy Makana accompanied the aerial dancers with music coaxed from his slack key guitar. The collaboration between local artists worked very well. Makana was charming and caught the eye of a few of young ladies. One tourist asked me who the guitarist was, and I had to admit I didn't know (I learned Makana's name later from a flyer). The fellah who occasionally performed with Makana (sorry, I didn't catch his name) had a t-shirt with working equalizer LEDs.
The cute little girls from The Dance Space opened the evening's performances. Perhaps we witnessed the baby steps of a future professional artist. A juggler (Loco Moco) and stilt walkers, sporting iridescent blue costumes, entertained the children with balloons and ribbons. Apparently jazz artists were performing on the second floor of the museum at the same time.
I serendipitously struck up a conversation with an couple from Oregon, who were celebrating their 25th anniversary. We had an interesting and wide ranging conversation; from parenting, to Nike (apparently Oregon is the mecca of track & field), traveling Tango teachers, and cheese.
All in all a pleasant night, minus the false fire alarm which threatened to cancel the event early. The first friday of every month. I recommend you check it out. Glad I did.
The home grown aerial acrobatics group Samadhi twisted up and spun down ribbons of silk, which flowed from the branches of ancient trees to touch the earth. Without a doubt, countless hours of training have earned these performers the strength and flexibility to make the difficult look easy. Crowds gathered outside of the fence to watch their graceful dance, and inspired children spun and twirled in between performances.
Instead of recorded music, local boy Makana accompanied the aerial dancers with music coaxed from his slack key guitar. The collaboration between local artists worked very well. Makana was charming and caught the eye of a few of young ladies. One tourist asked me who the guitarist was, and I had to admit I didn't know (I learned Makana's name later from a flyer). The fellah who occasionally performed with Makana (sorry, I didn't catch his name) had a t-shirt with working equalizer LEDs.
The cute little girls from The Dance Space opened the evening's performances. Perhaps we witnessed the baby steps of a future professional artist. A juggler (Loco Moco) and stilt walkers, sporting iridescent blue costumes, entertained the children with balloons and ribbons. Apparently jazz artists were performing on the second floor of the museum at the same time.
I serendipitously struck up a conversation with an couple from Oregon, who were celebrating their 25th anniversary. We had an interesting and wide ranging conversation; from parenting, to Nike (apparently Oregon is the mecca of track & field), traveling Tango teachers, and cheese.
All in all a pleasant night, minus the false fire alarm which threatened to cancel the event early. The first friday of every month. I recommend you check it out. Glad I did.
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