Hawaiian themes brighten ODC’s Walking Distance fest

Caption: Members of Na Lei Hulu I Ka Wekiu perform in Patrick Makuakane's "Wilikoki," part of "The Hula Show" at ODC Theater, marking the opening of the Walking Distance Dance Festival. Photo by Lin Cariffe Caption: Members of Na Lei Hulu I Ka Wekiu perform in Patrick Makuakane's "Wilikoki," part of "The Hula Show" at ODC Theater, marking the opening of the Walking Distance Dance Festival. Photo by Lin Cariffe Photo: Lin Cariffe Photo: Lin Cariffe Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Hawaiian themes brighten ODC’s Walking Distance fest 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

Some, but not all, of the luster went out of ODC Theater’s annual Walking Distance Dance Festival when the headlining company, Body Traffic, canceled because of dancer injuries. The project nevertheless did not lack for interest, thanks to the two Hawaiian-focused companies, Patrick Makuakane’s Na Lei Hulu I Ka Wekiu and Christopher K. Morgan & Artists, who filled the evening with object lessons in preserving, interpreting and extending traditional Hawaiian dance.

As the festival title indicates, the visitor wishing to see everything during the Friday, June 3, performance walked from the main auditorium down the street to Studio B in the ODC Commons. Both shows were repeated, and, at halftime, the troupes met in the middle of Shotwell Street, where the performers blessed the Mission District community, and Makuakane and Morgan exchanged ceremonial head leis.

Na Lei Hulu I Ka Wekiu, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, remains one of the consistent delights of Bay Area dance. The dedication of the performers and Makuakane’s sheer verve have everything to do with that. But we customarily see the company in its lavish annual extravaganzas — could a reduced version of “The Hula Show” succeed?

It certainly did on Friday, when Makuakane presided over a 50-minute, 14-excerpt medley of his choreography, featuring 24 dancers performing in front of a plain curtain. If the company was new to anybody, it made fast friends in less than an hour.

Makuakane began the sequence with a traditional hula, “O Ka Wena Ula,” and it was amazing how the choreographer derives much of his power from exploring unisons, finding immense power in the torso and pelvis, without neglecting the reaching arms. Makuakane provided the only musical accompaniment, chanting and strumming the ukulele.

The women exchanged their traditional skirts for black evening gowns for the flowing “Blue Monday,” a prime specimen of Makuakane’s “hula mua,” or “hula that evolves.” The “Birth Certificate Hula” is hilarious stuff, and it reminds us that the choreographer was born in the same Honolulu hospital just two weeks before President Obama. And as proof of his range, Makuakane ended with a protest hula, with participants agitating against the construction of an observatory. (They won.)

Down the road, Morgan explored his Hawaiian and American identity in the one-person “Pohaku.” The title means “stone,” and stones that adorned the stage at the start were consecrated and tossed on a big pile. But repeated actions don’t always gather the force of ritual, and this was one of those times.

Morgan, based in Washington, D.C., feels a conflict of cultures between his Hawaiian-ness and his American-ness, which tears him apart. Those warring impulses appeared in the dancing, which revealed elements of hula, ballet, modern and even foot-stamping Indian kathak. But it never coalesced into a style. Despite projections on three screens, Morgan just doesn’t make us care much about his personal crisis.

The production was handsome. The score was by Wytold, who played much of it on an electric cello, which makes a sound that won’t soon be forgotten. Kim Kuuipo Simson voiced the traditional Hawaiian chant and played percussion.

Allan Ulrich is The San Francisco Chronicle’s dance correspondent.

Walking Distance Dance Festival: Mission Street Dances, walking tours depart from Gray Area. 2665 Mission St., SF, Saturday, June 4, at noon 1 pm, 2 pm and 3 pm. www.odctheater.org