Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 30, Number 12, 1 December 2013 — Storytelling through dance [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Storytelling through dance

lnterviewed by Mary Aliee Ka'iulani Milham The multilayered natures of hula and life are explored and celebrated in Tlie Haumāna, an independent feature film by Honolulu native Keo Woolford that won the Hawai'i International Film Festival's audience award for best narative in October. Known for his role as Sgt. James Chang on the Hawai'i Five-() reboot, Woolford's latest creative venture shows there's more to this handsome prime-time actor than meets the eye. In addition to directing, he's taken on the roles of screenwriter and producer. But it was the role of hula dancer that first sparked his creative flame. Like the boys in his film, Woolford's hula journey began in his youth, in an after-school program at St. Louis High School. Later, as a haumāna of Kumu Hula Robert Cazimero's Hālau Nā Kamalei o Līlīlehua, he experienced a deeper immersion into hula. Cazimero's inAuenee ean also be seen onscreen in the film's hula, whieh he choreographed with Kumu Hula Lanakila Casupang of Hālau I Ka Wēkiu, Woolford's hula brother and an 'uniki graduate of Cazimero's hālau. The Haumāna - or students - was shot at various O'ahu locations

in 18 days, with a cast of dancers from loeal hālau, including Nā Kamalei o Lllīlehua and Hālau I Ka Wēkiu, led by Casupang and Karl Veto Baker. The film was financed by Woolford and his friends, a small army who helped with myriad aspects of the filmmaking process. Ka Wai Ola caught up with Woolford in November between rehearsals and performances of The Legend of Ko 'oīau, the oneman touring show he's directing at Maui Arts and Cultural Center, and Haumāna screenings throughout the Islands and the continent. Upcoming screenings are scheduled for Kaua'i and San Francisco in December. For information and additional showings, see The Haumāna Facebook page. KWO: What was Robert Cazimero's influence on this project? KW: His inAuenee is so farreaching. You know, he's my kumu so . . . anything that has to do with hula or the culture is a reflection and a direct connection to him. KWO: Did l)eing a dancer give you the confidence to do what you're doing? KW: I'm sure. And, on top of the confidence, it gave me the diseipline ... I feel like it gave me the humility and it gave me the drive and the open mindedness ... the

foundation was there with my parents and with hula. KWO: How did you get into show business? KW: I started out in a boy band, actually, because I wanted to be a pop star. So I was pursuing music and went to L.A. for that. For whatever reason, it didn't happen quite the way I was expecting. I did a little bit of modeling and commereial work, but then moved back home to be in this boy band called Brownskin. Before we started doing our second alhum, I auditioned for The King andla\ the London Palladium. ... I was there for 15 months and it changed my life. That's when I fell in love with acting. ... I moved to New York after the run had finished and studied acting there. That's when I got commissioned to write

my one-man show, I Land, whieh the film is loosely adapted from. KWO: When did you know you wanted to be a lilmmakei? KW: That also wasn't until very, very recently, right before I moved back home. . . . We had a little eollaborative in L.A. that we had just started and we were going to write and direct and act in eaeh other's stuff. ... I really wanted to do something before I left, so I shot this short. It was like this very quick, 6-min-ute short. Simple - two actors, a kid and an adult. I really, really loved that process and the film did extremely well and when I eame home to Hawai'i I just felt like I really wanted to continue to do

creative things. Part of the reason ... the writing of the script eame about, was so that it would give me an outlet to act. But, as the process went along, I realized it was more important for me to oversee and sort of bring the vision that I had written. ... I never set out to be a filmmaker. ... But I love film and I love directing and I love working with actors. ... I love the whole creation process, whether it's a script or a character or an entire film or a theater to play. KWO: Where did you learn about screenwriting? KW: If I look back and think about the first draft or the first dozen drafts, I'd cringe because they were sooo horrible! But by doing, and by (having) the supportive friends . . . very talented and intelligent friends, that shared their knowledge and opinions and

creative input, I learned. ... I wrote every single day, and I would study scripts and I would listen and read books about them. ... I also really trust my gut. KWO: As a story about the respect for and perpetuation of a culture, could this story just as easily have been about eanoe paddling? KW: Absolutely. ... We are taught that hula is life and what we learn is, when we're dancing, we are telling stories. . . . And we ean tell a story better if we have gone through experiences and are very specific about the story that we're telling. So the story is more a film with hula in it, than the "hula film." Hula is the metaphor for life and for what

the boys, well, all the characters, go through and how we use that in our dances. But it could easily have been a story about baseball, orpaddling . . . or horseback riding or something. KWO: Whieh was more difficuit the script or the directing? KW: Definitely the script, ... but the story is for us. ... There are things in it that help someone who is not familiar, . . . but the Hawaiian is not translated, the loeal jokes are not watered down . . . it's unapologetically for us...We've had so many other people try and tell our stories and the reason why it may not have resonated, it's because it's not from the inside. ■ Marv Ali.ce Ka'iuīani Milham, a Portland, Oregon-based freeīance journalist, is a former newspaper reporter and columnist from California 's Central Coast.

Q&A:KE0 W00DvRD

Keo Woolford, left, during a performance of I tand, his one-man show on whieh The Haumāna\s loosely based. - Courtesy photos: Keo Woolford