Do It! TGIF peeps the best in arts and entertainment
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SATURDAY-SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 3 & 4
Okinawan culture and cuisine will combine forces this weekend at Kapiolani Park
Okinawan culture will be on full display this weekend at the 29th annual Okinawan Festival at the Kapiolani Park Bandstand.
The two-day festival will feature live entertainment with performances from groups from Okinawa, bon dancing, food booths, games and other activities. Two new dishes will be featured this year: Taco Rice, which, though it’s made of Mexican taco ingredients over rice, actually originated in Okinawa; and fundagi, a type of funnel cake made from andagi batter.
Musical entertainment will include familiar faces like Mamoru Miyagi, known for his “shimauta” or dance-song stylings, and radio star Yoko Hizuki. They perform at 4 p.m. both days. Two new groups this year will be the Kyoko Toma Family Minyou Group, which features performers as young as 6, and the Yuino Buyo Group. They perform Sunday at 3 p.m.
When: 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Saturday and Sunday
Where: Kapiolani Park Bandstand
Cost: Free
Info: 676-5400, or okinawafestival.com
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 3
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Diamond Head harpist to perform
Since her early years, Melody Lindsay of Diamond Head has entertained music lovers with her virtuosic harp performances, appearing with the Honolulu Symphony, on
National Public Radio’s “From the Top” program, and at
international harp conventions representing the United States. She and her brother Christopher would also give charming performances featuring playful skits along with some amazing music.
On the heels of a well-received performance at the World Harp Congress in Canada, Lindsay will perform a benefit concert at Kaimuki Christian Church on Saturday before heading back to school at Princeton University.
“Labor of Love: Masterworks for the Harp” will feature works by Debussy, Khatchaturian, Bach, de Falla, Liszt, and Rodgers and Hammerstein. Lindsay will be joined by her teacher, Constance Harding Uejio, principal harpist of the new Hawaii Symphony Orchestra, for a series of harp duets. Brother Christopher will be on hand to narrate.
When: 7 p.m. Saturday
Where: Kaimuki Christian Church, 1117 Koko Head Ave.
Cost: Free. The church will accept donations toward its new piano.
Info: 734-8117
— Steven Mark
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‘Improvaganza’ offers a night of unscripted fun
Three local improv groups will be warming up your laugh muscles at the “Improvaganza! Preview Night” at The ARTS at Marks Garage.
Saturday’s show will give a taste of what’s to come later this month. On Sept. 22-24, a full-scale “Improvaganza” improv festival hits town with 19 groups from Honolulu, Seattle, New York, Los Angeles and Austin, Texas, offering a weekend of performances and workshops, said Garrick Paikai of On the Spot.
The local improv scene has grown dramatically in the past few years, Paikai says, and “Improvaganza” is one reflection of that.
Groups performing in the preview will be Something Classy, pictured, a group that features crazy characters, witty banter and dynamic relationships; Chocolate Squirrel, which debuted in 2009 and is developing an “indulgent, lascivious, and perverse” show called “The Greatest Improv Show … Ever!”; and On The Spot, Hawaii’s longest-running improvisational group.
When: 8 p.m. Saturday
Where: The ARTS at Marks Garage, 1159 Nuuanu Ave.
Cost: $10-$15
Info: 1-800-838-3006 or brownpapertickets.com. (Tickets for “Improvaganza,” Sept. 22-24 are also available at brownpapertickets.com.)
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Top isle graffiti artists to battle in spray paint
Graffiti, by definition, has a way of popping up everywhere and anywhere, and now the world’s largest graffiti event, the Estria Invitational Graffiti Battle, makes its way to Honolulu this weekend.
The competition, at the Honolulu Academy of Arts’ Art Center at Linekona, will pit 12 of Hawaii’s top graffiti artists vying for a spot in a final competition in Oakland, Calif., in October. Similar events have already been held in New York and Los Angeles.
Amanda Corby, a local organizer for the event, said artists will be given a word related to Hawaiian culture to base their work on. The painting will be done with spray paint on large, wooden cubes.
Other activities include workshops on calligraphy, graphic design, T-shirt stenciling and break dancing. The community arts organization 808 Urban will present “HIstory,” an interactive narrative about Hawaiian culture designed to encourage youth to become more involved in the arts and their community.
There will be entertainment for onlookers, too, with DJ Agana and crowd-pleasing dance crew Turfin247, coming in from Oakland, for the occasion, along with Lightsleepers DJs, beatboxer Jason Tom, hip-hop emcee Seph 1, and slam poetry from Youth Speaks Hawaii. Families and children are welcome.
When: 12-7 p.m. Saturday
Where: Art Center at Linekona, 1111 Victoria St.
Cost: free
Info: estriabattle.com, honoluluacademy.org, 532-8741
