Pele and Kamapua’a

Melding ancient Japanese Kuruma Ningyo puppetry with Hula Ki’i, the indigenous puppet folklore of Hawaii, Japanese artist Kiku Sakai brings a much anticipated workshop production of the story of “Pele and Kamapua’a” to the world renowned La MaMa Experimental Theatre for one night only. This light-hearted prequel to her much anticipated opus “Pele and Hi’iaka” demonstrates the cultural pluralism of this unique artist. Sakai has merged her two favorite artistic expressions, her love of the historic Kuruma Ningyo puppetry with her second love, that of authentic hula tradition – she is a proud member of the Pua Ali’i ‘Ilima o Nuioka, under the prominent hula master, Vicky Holt Takamine.

Ms Sakai has assembled an impressive team of like-minded artists to join her for this workshop: the prodigiously accomplished musician and composer Yukio Tsuji, Yoko Myo and the guiding hand of overall Project Supervisor, Tom Lee.