Hawaiian dance team brings culture to the valley
Tau Dance Theater, a Hawaiian-based dance company formed in 1996, left their native tropical island and made their way to Cache Valley to perform their own mix of hula, contemporary, modern and ballet dance at Ellen Eccles Theatre on Sept. 30.
The group was hosted by the Cache Valley Center for the Arts, and their way was paid through an ArtsForward grant from the Association of Performing Arts Professionals.
But the group didn’t just come to the Beehive State to show off their dance moves.
Tau Dance Theater also requested a land recognition ceremony after arriving so they could follow cultural traditions of respect. The group wanted to be welcomed by the local Shoshone Native Americans.
“We first acknowledge the people and the place,” said Peter Rockford Espiritu, the founder and artistic director of Tau. “When you go to someone’s house, you don’t just walk in and start a party. You can, but that’s not our way. We felt it was important to acknowledge the keepers of the land — the Shoshone people.”
During the ceremony on Sept. 28, Darren Parry, former chairman of the Northwestern band of the Shoshone Nation and current member of the Shoshone Tribal Council, was the one to welcome the group.
Parry began by burning sage to represent protection and healing for the visitors.
“We do it as a way to honor the sacredness of Mother Earth, but we do it to honor those people that are here, to cleanse their souls, and we use it as a way of protection going forward,” he said. “As long as they’re here on Shoshone land and in this culture, they will be protected by the spirits that are still here.”
Parry and Kealoha Kelekolio, a Hawaiian elder who was a special guest in the dance group, also touched noses as a sign of gratitude and honor.
“When I touch noses with that elder, that’s one of the highest honors that their culture can give,” Parry said.
Tau’s cultural traditions are a part of their performances. Although the group strives to entertain, they hope to also explain the symbolism behind the performance and give local residents a closer connection to their heritage.
“If you come to be entertained, we will entertain you, and I take no offense,” Espiritu said. “But if you come to find a deeper spiritual connection, you will find it and you will feel it, and hopefully you will be moved.”
Tau’s performance included drums, bells, big feathers and bare feet. Each dance and song represented something from their home. One dance represented the rain in Hawaii, while another was a song of prayer.
Cache Valley Center for the Arts executive director Wendi Hassan was grateful to have more diversity and culture brought to Logan.
“In Cache Valley, we’re a little limited in our access to different cultures, yet we have a strong appreciation,” Hassan said. “But when we can have a group come that isn’t tied to the university or tied to a religious organization, they can just bring the best of what the world has to offer to us.”
Parry said it’s up to each person to take it upon themselves to be educated on other perspectives and values.
“We live in such a divided world today because we don’t take the time to learn about each other’s culture,” Parry said. “The fact that we can come together and acknowledge each other and listen to each other, I think is the way we’re going to heal this world. We need to be able to look at each other through each other’s eyes.”
Tau’s arrival came just in time for the 100-year celebration of the Ellen Eccles Theatre, and according to Hassan, it was the perfect way to celebrate.
“We have this old building that’s 100 years old now, and we’re inventing and creating new things,” she said. “And Tau Dance Theater does some works that are really evocative of what you think of as Polynesian dance and historic dance, but they also are creating new works. We thought, ‘What better way to kick off the centennial?’”
Hassan said Tau is just one group helping the Cache Valley Center for the Arts bring in cultures from around the world.
The next group to come to the Ellen Eccles Theatre will be Cirque Kalabanté, a Guinean-inspired circus group from Canada, on Nov. 16.
-Jacee.Caldwell@usu.edu
Featured photo by Jacee Caldwell