The University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo Performing Arts Center presents The Hawaiian Nutcracker November 21, 22, 23 at 7 p.m., with matinees on November 23 and 24 at 2 p.m., featuring UH Hilo and Hawaii Community College dance classes as well as community members and dancers.
The production commemorates the 25th anniversary of the original concept and creation by UH Hilo’s dance instructor, the late Earnest Morgan, in collaboration with O`ahu choreographer Willie Dean Ige. The Hawaiian Nutcracker is set in Hawaiʻi in the mid-1800s, when members of the chiefly class have gathered for a holiday party at Hale Ali`i. The keiki receive gifts, and one of these inspires a colorful dream of adventures in the magical realms of a child’s imagination.
UH Hilo Dance teacher and choreographer Kea Kapahua, who performed in the original production as Princess Nahiʻenaʻena and the Fire Goddess, among other roles, leads the charge for this revival.
UH Hilo Dance instructor Celeste Staton, who previously danced the role of ʻIolani the hawk, choreographs the lyrical “Waltz of the Flowers.”
Tickets are reserved seating and priced at $20 General, $15 Discount and $10 UH Hilo/HawCC students (with a valid student ID) and children, up to age 17, pre-sale. Tickets at the door are $5 more.
Tickets can be purchased by calling the UH Hilo Box Office at 932-7490 or ordering online at artscenter.uhh.hawaii.edu.