Hills Newspapers
Friday, August 22, 2003

Dancer Finds Her Heart in the Pacific
By Brian Kluepfel


As her tall adolescent frame outgrew the traditional ballet she was raised on, Mahealani Uchiyama discovered the voluminous James Michener novel, "Hawai'i". She quickly read the tome cover to cover and immersed herself in all things Hawaiian, including hula. Three decades later, the Pacific Islands remain her spiritual and professional center.

Born 45 years ago in Washington, D.C., Uchiyama was attending ballet classes by age 2, and studied the form for nine years. A stint in Broadway-style dance was short-lived, and it was hula that captured her imagination. As famed practitioner Coline Aiu has said, "hula is a dance that welcomes everyone." Including statuesque women who don't quite fit the bill for ballet or Broadway.

Uchiyama's passion led her to pursue an undergraduate degree in Dance Ethnology and a graduate degree in Pacific Island Studies at the University of Hawai'i. She also had the opportunity to learn from one of Hawai'i's hula masters, Joseph Kamoha'i Kaha'ulelio. After her studies on the islands she relocated to the Bay Area in 1982.

That year she founded the Hui Pa Hula o Leianuenue - The name means "hula of the rainbow garland" - and celebrated the group's diversity. This Polynesian dance ensemble broke many barriers as a mainland troupe that scored highly in Honolulu's prestigious King Kamehameha Hula Festival. Leianuenue also earned recognition locally in the Ia 'Oe E Ka La Hula Competition (1984 - 1988), and the San Francisco Tahiti Fete (1989 - 1990). At the latter event Uchiyama received first place honors in solo Tahitian dance in 1985.

Uchiyama now leads the International Dance Center in Berkeley, celebrating its tenth anniversary in October. The most recent artistic triumph for Uchiyama is a cultural exchange with the Tahitian dance company Orihere Maohi and director Turere Mata'oa, captured in the documentary Black Pearl (truly a family efort: directed and produced by her son, Hoku, the film includes several songs sung or composed by Uchiyama). Her KaUaTuahine Polynesian Dance Company, a sub-group within the Center for International Dance, was invited to Tahiti last summer. Ten dancers lived with families for a week and studied with the company.

The visit paid artistic dividends at this year's Tahiti Fete in San Jose, where KaUaTuahine won two second-place and two first-place prizes in the competition. Once again, the kumu (teacher) was at the center of things, musically and otherwise. Though she jokes "my 45 year-old body doesn't dance that much anymore," she was the heart of the backing musical ensemble, strumming her 'ukulele (she's self-taught) and singing.

She underscores how important the connection is between the language and dance in Polynesian cultures. In addition to singing, her language skills have led to teaching stints in Hawaiian at Chabot College and Stanford.

The kumu also talked about what continues to attract her to the dance of Hawai'i and Tahiti. " A serious hula practitioner has a connection to the natural environment that is celebrated. It is our responsibility to protect the growing things. They are reminders of our attachment to the earth, such as the leis that we wear. That really resonates with me."

There's a lot more to (hula) than meets the eye," she continued. "You've got to know who wrote a song, for what purpose, and what island it's from." She also notes that one must consider appropriate costumes, adornments, and musical accompaniments. There's a lot to it other than what (is visible in) the finished project," she said.

Beyond the Pacific, Uchiyama sees the International Dance Center as an opportunity for everyone, herself included, to embrace a world of dance forms. She is currently studying Indian Kathak dance under Chitresh Das, a recognized master of that form. The center also offers classes in West African Dance, Chinese folk dance, yoga and Shona singing.

Uchiyama conitnues to push herself musically, too. To an interviewer she proudly displays the callused fingers and broken nails resulting from her recent study of the mbira, an African hand piano. Exposure to world culture is what keeps her in the Bay Area.

But it's the pulse of the islands that continnue to fascinate her, the same sounds that brought her from the Potomac to the Pacific. KaUaTuahine performs again in Hayward's Chabot College Ho'olaule'a iin September. So from the Bay Area to the wider world of dance, thank you, James Michener.