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#8x8_shangrila_22 Performing Artists

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Introductory Gallery
In Shangri La's Introductory Gallery, hip hop artist and educator, Big Mox and his musical collaborator, Leslie "Bimwala" Ludiazo, use the hip hop ritual of cypher in an original composition that conjures the playfulness of Sufi mysticism to form connections between and across generations of cultures, genres, and timelines.

Big Mox
Big Mox is a multidimensional writer, vocalist, and teaching artist. He has taught in schools across the state, won rap competitions and was a semi-finalist on American Idol. Under the name, Jonah Jaxon, he has released several popular island reggae songs in Hawai‘i.

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Moonlight
Private Garden

This exceptional performance by taiko master, Kenny Endo, in the Private Garden at Shangri La is a site-specific offering of connection and optimism to those who have experienced loss and trauma.

Kenny Endo
A groundbreaking performer, composer, and teacher, Kenny Endo is at the vanguard of the taiko genre, blending taiko with original music through collaborations with artists from around the world.

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Waves - Pīkake - E Ala E Kahikiku
Mughal Gallery

The Mughal Gallery is Doris Duke’s former bedroom and features beautifully inlaid semi-precious stone floral arraignments in the private bath area. The incredible talents of singer/songwriter Izik are on full display in this intimate site-specific performance about unfolding self-care, self-love, and self-awareness in order to expand outward into the universe with confidence and grace.

Izik
Izik is an award-winning singer/songwriter who has has released two albums and toured around the world.

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Auspicious Flight
Manuscript Gallery

In this site-specific performance in the Manuscript Gallery, puppeteer, Bonnie Kim, depicts the hero's arc as represented in phoenix mythology found in Persian, Korean, and Western cultures. During a moment of change and uncertainty, Kim's performance makes connections between the triumphant resilience of the archetypal hero and the resilience demonstrated today.

Bonnie Kim
Bonnie Kim's passion for puppetry has led her to study, create, perform and teach various types of innovative works around the world. Based on the Big Island, Kim received her MFA degree in Theatre from University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.

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Find
Ottoman Gallery

Composer and performer, Leilehua Lanzilotti, embarks on a journey through Shangri La's Ottoman Gallery. Bending and altering preconceptions of sound and the materials used to produce them, Lanzilotti creates a connection between knowing and feeling when exploring the unknown. The metal sound sculpture attached to the bass was designed and created by Adam Morford (Morfbeats).

Leilehua Lanzilotti
Honolulu-based Leilehua Lanzilotti is a well-respected Kanaka Maoli composer-performer dedicated to advancing the arts of our time by bridging differences through her sonic compositions.

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Shangri La La Land
Dining Room

In and around the Dining Room and Lanai at Shangri La, Mareva Minerbi invokes the mesmerizing power and magic of fantasy. Characters come alive through orchestrated movements inspired by Shangri La, creating connections between conventional and unconventional forms.

Mareva Minerbi
Mareva Minerbi is an international performer, choreographer and educator from Honolulu. Her interests include improvisation, devised performance, somatic practices, and visual media. She received her MFA from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa and is currently a Lecturer in Dance at Leeward Community College.

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A Call to Prayer
Livingroom

With this powerful work, Kanaka Maoli wahine mākua/artist/activist/scholar/storyteller Dr. Jamaica Heolimeleikalani Osorio invokes the sacred connections that exist between people, place, and culture.

Dr. Jamaica Heolimeleikalani Osorio
Dr. Jamaica Heolimeleikalani Osorio is a Kanaka Maoli wahine mākua/ artist / activist / scholar / storyteller born and raised in Pālolo Valley. She believes that aloha ʻāina and moʻolelo can save the world.

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Ō Mai O Kalākaua
Qajar Gallery

Pua Ali’i ‘Ilima Nā Kumu Hula Vicky Holt Takamine & Jeff Takamine present a suite of traditional oli (chant) and hula pahu (musical accompaniment drum) in honor of King David Kalākaua in the newly opened Qajar Gallery at Shangri La. The performance honors the royal connection formed in the exchange of royal orders and letters of friendship and solidarity between Naser al-Din Shah of the Qajar dynasty of Iran (1779-1924) and King David Kalākaua.

Pua Ali’I ‘Ilima, Nā Kumu Hula Vicky Holt Takamine & Jeff Takamine
Vicky Holt Takamine is one of Hawaii's most cherished kumu hula, which she achieved through the ‘ūniki rituals of hula from Maiki Aiu Lake in August 1975. She established her hālau, Pua Ali‘i ‘Ilima in 1977. In 2007, after thirty years of teaching hula, Vicky graduated her son Jeffrey Kānekaiwilani Takamine as a kumu hula.

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