DARAT at East-West Center honors 120 years of sakadas in Hawaii with dance, music, fashion
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – A special production is celebrating the 120th anniversary of the arrival of the first sakadas, Filipino plantation laborers, in Hawaii.
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The House of Gongs presents “DARAT: A Dance Runway in Five Movements,” created for Filipino American History Month at the East-West Center.
DARAT, Ilocano for flowing sand or land, transforms the fashion runway into an immersive, ceremonial space bridging ancestral memory with contemporary movement.
The five-part elemental narrative features four fashion collections from interdisciplinary artist and Sakada descendant Lydia Querian’s fashion brand Elle Karayan, live kulintang and Indigenous rock music, and a predominantly Filipino diasporic cast of more than 30 dancers, models and culture bearers.
The production is conceived, directed and choreographed by Querian, with music direction by Kevin Calamayan.
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Organizers describe the staging as a barbell-style runway featuring plantation textures and traditional kapasiti altars, blending contemporary dance, live music and sustainable fashion into what they call “a walking prayer of collective reclamation.” Tables display replicas of ship forms with the names of the original sakadas to honor their sacrifice.
On Oct. 18, the event starts at 3 p.m. with doors opening at 2:30 p.m. at Keoni Auditorium, Imin International Conference Center, Jefferson Hall on the UH Manoa campus.
Special guests include cultural commentator Jon Luigi, Jae Tioseco and Sama culture bearer Al-Raffy Harun, according to organizers.
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To purchase tickets, visit here.
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