TDPS Dance artist-in-residence Christopher K. Morgan presents “Pohaku”

TDPS Dance artist-in-residence Christopher K. Morgan will present the world premiere of his new solo Pohaku at Dance Place on Saturday, March 19 (8pm) and Sunday, March 20 (7pm).

TDPS Dance artist-in-residence Christopher K. Morgan will present the world premiere of his new solo Pohaku at Dance Place on Saturday, March 19 (8pm) and Sunday, March 20 (7pm).

“Pohaku” is the Hawaiian word for “stone”

Morgan began researching ideas for Pohaku over a decade ago. Born and raised in southern California to Hawaiian parents, Morgan trained in Polynesian dance as a child, and later went on to develop himself as a modern dance artist. He developed his idea for Pohaku out of his interest in exploring the intersections between the traditional dances of his native Hawaiian ancestry and American contemporary dance techniques.

Morgan’s late cousin, John Ka’imikaua, was a master of the hula style of Moloka’i island, and he kept the tradition alive through his performance group “Hālau Hula o Kukunaokalā” until his death in 2006. Morgan returned to Hawai’i with his mother a few years after Ka’imikaua’s passing, and was overwhelmed by the spiritual “signs” he received from family that inspired him to continue to pursue this work. The word “pohaku” means “stone” in the Hawaiian language, and Morgan describes the signs and stories he collected during his trip as “stones of knowledge” that he carries with him—literally throughout the dance piece, and figuratively through life.

Pohaku comes from a deeply personal place, and Morgan explores his own internal struggle as a person of multiple ethnicities in the larger context of his family and of Hawaii’s history of displacement and disenfranchisement. Through movement and storytelling, he addresses what it means to lose one’s “home,” and how dislocation from a physical home may lead to an embodied sense of home through cultural traditions.  The choreography reflects the multiple voices involved in Morgan’s struggle to locate “home”—sometimes he juxtaposes traditional hula with modern dance, and sometimes he integrates the two techniques to explore the housing of both traditions within one body.

Faced with tough choices about the appropriate boundaries between preserving a tradition and innovating on that tradition in order to move forward, Morgan has relied on the expertise of friend and collaborator Kumu Hula Elsie Kaleihulukea Ryder of Ka’imikaua’s group “Hālau Hula o Kukunaokalā.” Elsie will join Morgan on stage on traditional hula percussion and vocal chanting. They will also be accompanied by classically trained electric cellist Wytold, whose classical music interpretation adds another layer to the work.

The set of Pohaku includes projections of photographs and imagery on traditional Hawaiian kapa tapestries, handmade from the wauke tree, and stones collected at each site the work is performed. The collaborative design team includes: projection designer Sareen Hairabedian, scenic designer and kapa maker Dalani Tanahy, lighting and technical director Brian S. Allard, and rehearsal director Tiffanie Carson.

Morgan is the recipient of a National Dance Project award and a Production Residency Award, both from the New England Foundation of the Arts, and a Creation Fund from the National Performance Network. Pohaku will tour to an additional 7 venues in 3 other states (Hawai’i, California, and Minnesota), over the course of the next year. 

By Kate Spanos

Watch this breathtaking video of Morgan’s creative process in developing Pohaku:

Behind Closed Doors: Pohaku, https://vimeo.com/157214104

Visit Christopher K. Morgan’s website:

http://www.christopherkmorgan.com

To purchase tickets, visit the Dance Place website:

https://www.danceplace.org/performances/christopher-k-morgan-artists/