Nā Lei Hulu I Ka Wēkiu' Returns to Palace of Fine Arts

Patrick Makuakāne and his award-winning dance troupe, Nā Lei Hulu I Ka Wēkiu, returns to the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre for six performances only with The Hula Show 2008, an entirely new show that features and honors a wide breadth of Hawaiian traditions, folklores and personalities through Nā Lei Hulu's trademark hula mua, which combines traditional hula movements to non-Hawaiian music, as well as hula kahiko, the traditional pre-Western style of Hawaiian dance.

Performances are: Saturday, October 11 at 8 p.m., Sunday, October 12 at 4 p.m., Friday, October 17 at 8 p.m., Saturday, October 18 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, October 19 at 3 p.m. A one-hour family matinee designed especially for children and families is scheduled for Sunday, October 19 at 12 p.m. There will be an opening night champagne reception immediately following the performance on Saturday, October 11, as well as a gala benefit and silent auction on Saturday, October 18 at 5:30 p.m. Tickets are on sale now through City Box Office at 415-392-4400, on the web at cityboxoffice.com and at all tickets.com locations.

The Hula Show 2008 opens with "Māui Turning Back the Sky," a new piece commissioned by a grant from the Creative Work Fund which explores Hawaiian astronomy and the story of Māui, the great ancestral navigator who guided Polynesian ancestors to the Polynesian islands around 3000 B.C. This piece had its world premiere at the 30th Anniversary of the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival earlier this year.

The program will also feature several world premiere dances, choreographed by Kumu Hula Patrick Makuakāne, including a segment honoring Lena Machado, an acclaimed singer and prolific composer of Hawaiian music in the 1930s and 1940s, a time known as "the Golden Era" of Hawaiian music. Called "Hawai'i's Songbird," Machado was one of the best-known talents in the world of Hawaiian music and in 1939, was asked to headline at the San Francisco World's Fair.

The Hula Show 2008 will play for six performances only at San Francisco's Palace of Fine Arts Theatre (Bay & Lyon Streets). Performances are:

    * Saturday, October 11 at 8 p.m.,
    * Sunday, October 12 at 4 p.m.
    * Friday, October 17 at 8 p.m.
    * Saturday, October 18 at 8 p.m.
    * Sunday, October 19 at 12 p.m. (one-hour family matinee)
    * Sunday, October 19 at 3 p.m.

Tickets range in price from $35-$40 (reserved seating) for regular performances. All tickets for the family matinee are $10 (general admission). Tickets to the opening night champagne reception (Saturday, October 11) are $85. Tickets for the gala benefit and silent auction (Saturday, October 18) are $150. Tickets are on sale now through City Box Office at 415-392-4400, on the web at cityboxoffice.com and at all tickets.com locations.

Founded in 1985, Nā Lei Hulu I Ka Wēkiu ("the many feathered wreaths at the summit, held in high esteem") is committed to teaching and preserving the Hawaiian culture through hula. It has a performance group of nearly 40 dancers and offers classes to students in the beginning and intermediate levels. The organization holds educational workshops throughout the year in Hawaiian language, history, and arts and crafts. The company has performed in locations throughout California, and in New York, Las Vegas, New Orleans and Honolulu. For further information on Nā Lei Hulu I Ka Wēkiu, call 415-647-3040 or visit www.naleihulu.org.

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