 Welcome to At the Crossroads. I am your host, Pisha King. I am so excited that you are joining us here today. I know it's the middle of summer, but I want you to think about winter. As muggy and hot as it has been here in our beautiful state of Hawaii, winter vibes might not be a bad idea. But when we think winter, I don't know about you. If you have a dance background or not, but I think about the nutcracker. And today, our special guest are the Ballet Hawaii Executive Director and Art Director. Please welcome with me to At the Crossroads with John Parkinson and Pamela Taylor Tong. Hi, kids. Hello, hi, guys. So good to see you all. Thank you for being here today. Pleasure to be here. Yes, indeed. And Christmas in June sounds about right to me. You didn't mean it. I mean, you might as well start thinking about it. It'll be here before you know it. I'll cool you off. That's right. I mean, come on. It's been scorching hot lately, so it's OK to think about winter. So when we think about Ballet Hawaii, I just love everything about it. I've been learning so much thanks to our conversations. And of course, thanks to the nutcracker, which I saw last season. And I'm looking forward to now. So you've seen the newly revamped version of our Hawaiian themed nutcracker. Yes, and I loved it. I got, as they say, chicken skin when we were kids. That's so good. I just saw, I wasn't expecting it. So when it happened, and I saw the woman and the man come out, but before we get into that, I want to get ahead of ourselves. Why don't we just slow down, pull back a little bit, and talk about the mission and vision of Ballet Hawaii. The mission is to teach primarily to produce, which we do nutcracker, and usually we do a summer production as well, too, tied into our summer intensive program. And then we present. We present different companies at different times. And we also promote dance on the islands. So that's our mission. We're a nonprofit organization. And that's our moment. To teach, present, produce, and promote dance in Hawaii. Love it. Let's go over that again. Teach, present, present, produce, produce, and promote. Teach, present, produce, and promote dance in Hawaii. Dance in Hawaii. John mostly presents, and I produce. So that's like, what's it for? There you go. But it's all the same. It's all equal. It's a team effort. It's a beautiful thing. It is. Yes. So I'm sure you've seen hundreds, maybe even thousands of students come through Ballet Hawaii. Tim certainly has. I came to Hawaii. I was marrying my husband. I was dancing with Atlanta Ballet. And I thought I'd retired. And I was very sad to do so. I've been with Atlanta Ballet. Robert Barnett was my director, who was the original company member of George Balanchine's New York City Ballet. Oh, that's major. And this summer, he's going to be here to produce one of his ballets that he did. We did Serenade two years ago, which was a New York City Ballet favorite. Beautiful. So we're doing that in combination of our summer intensive program, which starts July 8th. Combinates on the 27th and 28th. There'll be an in-studio performance, in case you're free. I will be free. That would be good to see. And you'll see all of the different students. And Bobby is setting reflections on us. Yes, that is his ballet that he choreographed. So that will be very special. He's 94 years young and moves faster than I ever thought about moving. Oh, my goodness. And so that's a real treasure to have him. He's come periodically. And it's always been a joy to have him. And the students really have enjoyed the history. He's writing a book. And with all the stories of the New York City Ballet. You know, I'm sure there are tons of stories that could be shared about both the New York City Ballet, but right here, too, for Ballet, Hawaii. Yes. So you married your husband while you were in Atlanta or here? No, here. Here. I think he and I retired. That was 34 years ago. I thought it was done. And I was helping friends that I had worked with on the mainland that were producing a ballet. And I started teaching 12 dragonflies that were in Cinderella. And then it snowballed. And 34 years later, here we are. But actually, Ballet Hawaii is 43 years old. 43 years old? Yes. That's a lifetime. And it began with Marifossi's desire to have the city complete with Culture and the Arts. And so he started the ballet company, his daughter, Dance. And it was funded by the CEDA funds. And the board of directors were formed. And they continued on. And it's the same board of directors that is now not all the same. Not the same people, but the same entity. But a couple of the same people are still here. And so that started in 1976. So we've evolved from there. And we are Ballet Hawaii. From 12 students to over about 500 students who take with us to the school. Because there was no school at the time. It was a board of directors. And they produced a version of Coffee Friends and a number of ballets that were connected. They were people that came in and set the dances. I love that. I love that. I love their strength in the arts. And their strength in numbers. And I love the fact that over 500 people were in the school at that time. And they were just such a great need. So you guys are providing a need for arts and self-expression that wasn't there before. Lately, I've been saying, when you support Ballet Hawaii, you help keep Honolulu interesting. That's right. I agree. You're still alive and kicking. Yes. Yes. And you, thinking you retired after 34. And you have now been 34 years in Hawaii. It's been a nice second career. That's right. That's right. And actually, you've given me something to think about, which is to try to figure out how many students have actually graduated or gone through Ballet Hawaii's program. That's right. That would number in probably multiple, high thousands, if not tens of thousands. A wonderful July to see them go from age three all the way to graduate. And then they come back and take adult class. So remember not too, too late. We'll get into that. I want to talk about that. We're going to show some pictures right now of some of our younger students. Because they start very early. You said age three. So yeah, we're taking a look at some of those. Oh, look at them. They're so cute. They are cute. And they start so young. My favorites, and they give good hugs. Yes. Yes. Next picture, look at them. So they're in the class with their cute tutus. I remember those days, both as a student and then as a dance mom. It's our princess camp that we have every summer. Every summer, you have a princess camp. So there's a princess camp going on right now. It was. We just finished it a couple of weeks ago. Our classes are ongoing year-round. OK, that's terrific. I love that. The school operates on four sessions a year plus a summer intensive. Beautiful. So four sessions a year, a summer intensive. Fall, winter, spring, summer, summer intensive. And then we have workshops and camps that we do along the way as well. Wow. So that sounds like over 10 classes, 10 different sessions of classes that you offer. Monday through Sunday. Monday through Sunday. In two locations. In two locations. So where's your first location? Our primary, well, our biggest location is in town on South Hotel Street. And our second location is in Waipahu. And we have two beautiful studios out in what we call Dalai Lai West. Love that. It's really amazing. You guys are doing dynamic work. We're trying. The studios are beautiful. I've seen pictures. I haven't been inside yet. But when I come, I think I want to see what you have for adults. So please. Many different classes. That's a very, very beginning class that we call, if not too, too late. It's not too, too late to refer to. And then we have classes that are in the morning, 10 to 11.30. And that's for, it's a mixed level. And people come, they enjoy the movement and the music and the exercise. And it's, they're bonded. And then we have an additional, that we have two other classes that are Tuesday and Thursday evenings at 6.30? 6.30. At 6.30 to 8. And then of course on the weekends, we also have adult classes. So you can, you know, do you have an interest in dance? Come on down. We got a class for you. I love that. Okay. So if I'm interested, I can come Tuesday, Thursday, 6.30 to 8. Or the weekends, or during the day. 10 o'clock. 10 to 11.30. 10 to 11.30. That's for adults. So any ladies or gentlemen out there, it's not too, too late. It's not too, too late. That is true. Awesome. That's beautiful. So you have something for all ages. Everybody. Starting at three, 203. I'm just going to put that out there. Pretty much. Pretty much. Yeah. How old is, how old is our oldest student? 80 something? I, I don't know. I don't ask. Yeah. Okay. You don't ask a lady her age. That's right. That's right. We have, we have several men who are, who are taking as well. Yeah. We do. Really? For stretch and strengthening exercises as well too. Yeah. Because ballet does that for us. It stretches your limbs. It keeps you limber, right? When you're doing the floor movements, you're actually working your feet. That's a whole different set of coordination. Right. You don't have to tell me. Because when you can't move them. But you can do that. So I think that's, that's good too. Yeah, I do. But you know, sometimes you need to mix it up a little bit. Yeah. Yeah. It's all about ballet Hawaii right now. We're not in Hawaii cross-training, right? That's right. I love it, love it. So now tell me about your staff. How many staff members do you have? We have seven full-time staff and probably another 20 teachers, part-time teachers. And the staff is a mix of teachers and admin support in order to do what we do. And the teachers are an amazing assortment of a group of people who love dance. And love imparting what they know about dance. And donate a lot of their time that's above and beyond what their salaries say. That's a lot of teachers. The point person on the school is Leslie Young, who's our school administrator and she is amazing. She just, she, what she manages to get done and keep organized and keep the school running down the road is amazing. Yeah. It takes a team to make these types of things work. Yeah. I'm just thinking of all the, you know, everybody, you know. If you start naming names. If I start naming names, it's, well, it's easy, you know. Because we're a small, but we have Raven Matsushita Garcia, who's been with us since she was. She was four years old and she started with me. Now she's teacher and does and helps us run parts of the school. We have Mickey Colberg, who is a ballerina from, from. She was from originally a Kirov, but Louisville, different companies. Different companies and now she's here teaching and running other parts of the school. We have Marcy Monerlin, who was a former Cunningham dancer, who helps us with development. We have Shayna Cowey, who is our like office administrator and the. Christine Kamitsky is one of the people that has started our performing group of the higher level of students. And she's been really instrumental in getting the younger dancers out and into the community. Susan Kwong, who has been instrumental in getting the West side going has, has deeply involved with the performing ensemble, as is, well, Mickey, of course, is involved with that. And then. And then we have just a host of teachers who have been with us a long time and. Yeah. Yeah, it's amazing. What I hear is a lot of years. I'm hearing people who have started since age three. We have an amazingly dedicated staff. So once you're in, you're in. The track, the track for students you're talking about. Yes. For the track for students is if you come in at three years old, you, if you stay with us, which many do, you're graduating high school at 17, 18. And by the, you start at 45 minutes a week at three years old on a Saturday. By the time you finish, you're coming five days a week, an hour to two, you know, an hour and a half to two hours a day. And quite frankly, at that point, you are a sort of an artist athlete warrior. Yes. I mean, these guys, these women are fierce. I love that. Yeah. We believe in that. We believe in fierce and strong women. Strong women. That's right. I love what you guys are doing. And we're going to talk more about some of the performances. We're going to go to break right now. We are talking with John and Pam. I feel like this is the John and Pam and Keisha show. We're talking about Ballet Hawaii. And when we come back after this break, we're going to talk about the Nutcracker. So be right back. Aloha. I'm Dennis Wong, a host here at Think Tech Hawaii, a digital media company serving the people of Hawaii. We provide a video platform for citizen journalists to raise public awareness in Hawaii. We are a Hawaii nonprofit that depends on the generosity of its supporters to keep on going. We'd be grateful if you'd go to thinkcheckhawaii.com and make a donation to support us now. Thanks so much. Aloha. My name is Mark Shklav. I am the host of Think Tech Hawaii's Law Across the Sea. Law Across the Sea is on Think Tech Hawaii every other Monday at 11 a.m. Please join me, where my guests talk about law topics and ideas and music in Hawaii, Anna, all across the sea from Hawaii and back again. Aloha. Aloha and welcome back. You're watching At the Crossroads. I'm your host Keisha King. And today we have Ballet Hawaii on with us. And we are talking about all things dance and fun. And I am so happy to be joined by Pamela and John. Thank you, Keisha. Thank you. Thanks for having us, Keisha. You know what? It is totally my pleasure. I've learned so much about the organization and the fact that you guys have been here for so long that you got started because of someone taking the initiative to bring art back to Hawaii to keep it interesting here in Hawaii. And now I want to move into what is probably one of the most exciting things that you do all here. Although it sounds like you do a lot of great things all year long, it all culminates to the major performance of the Nutcracker at the end. Can you please talk to us about the special Hawaii connection to the Nutcracker? Well, when we thought about doing a new Nutcracker, that was set in the 1858 Kingdom of Hawaii. We have a picture we're looking at right now, which is beautiful. Yes. And that is the legend of Lohiao and Hiiaka. Lohiao, Hiiaka was L.A.'s sister. And so it's all there are so many different concepts that are within the ballet. Subteam Weber was a choreographer and he was a history major and as well as being an amazing choreographer. So he loved getting into the history of Hawaii. And so that's why it is set in Washington Place and the home of Mary Dominus, now the governor's mansion. And that is where Queen Liliu Kalani met John Dominus. And four years later, after this party, they were married. So there's so much history that is in the ballet and the snow scene is on Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. And so that's the beautiful scenery that you would see. Okay. And then the second act is Flora and Fauna. It has tulip flowers and it's a garden scene. And so we have orchids, Spanish orchids. Yes. We have then Lohiao and Hiiaka, then Arabian, which is the music. And then we have the Eevee Birds and the Black Cat. Just sounds on and on and on. Mama Moana and the Clownfish come out. And then Crownflowers, which is the Queen's favorite flower. So it's a very traditional nutcracker in any respects. We use the same music and we're using the same segments of music. And what the team did was choreograph into those segments using Hawaiian themes. And our audiences connect with that. Yes. It's really quite something. At the beginning of the show I mentioned that and I talked about when I saw the performance last year how I literally got chicken skin because I am not from here and yet I understand the connection and how much pride the people here must feel when they see that in a very classic, very traditional musical ballet. So I know the feedback has been powerful for that. And frankly, most people are just blown away at the scale of the production and the quality of the production that Ballet Hawaii presents. Yes. You guys are amazing. You're doing great work. It's a wing and a prayer and we're blessed to be able to have this. It's a little bit more than that. I think so. I think you're being modest. Let me do it for you. Just pat yourself. Just try it, Pamela. Just pat yourself on the back and say, you did a great job. We bring professional dancers from major companies in the United States. Yes, who are principals in their company, which is amazing. So New York City Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Carolina Ballet. Look at that. Look at the work, guys. American Ballet Theater. Who is this that we're looking at right here? That's Leslie Rauch and she is a principal with the Pacific Northwest Ballet and she's been a guest artist and they're wonderful role models for the students. Yes. Now this is something that you and I talked about. First of all, it's not very hard to convince somebody who may be in New York or someplace else very cold, hey, why don't you come to Hawaii? Yes. A week in December in Hawaii sounds pretty good to just about everybody who lives on the continent. Exactly. Exactly. So they get here and they do what with your student? Well, they dance the principal roles and then the quarter ballet is made up of the most advanced students in the school and then we have bubble bees and the little ones are in the roles that they're able to do and they work their way up because it's a little daunting to be on the stage with the orchestra and costumes and sets coming down. Oh, look at that set. Look at that. So beautiful. That is the end of our snow scene. At the end of act one. At the end of act one. And they're going off in a boat. Yes. Beautiful. And we've chosen to use that as our backdrop today because I think it's stunning. It's amazing. It is. It is. It is. It always amazes me too. Yes. I love it. I love it. So you guys bring in people from all over and then they come here, they work with our students. They're the principal dancers for the number one. In their own companies. In their major companies. So when you see our nutcracker, you're seeing principal dancers dance roles but normally quarter ballet or soloists are dancing. So the quality of our dancing that you see in the roles, that's a lot of the roles here is you don't need to go to New York to see some of the best dancing in the world. Say that again. Look at this camera right here. And tell everybody you don't. You don't have to go to New York to see some of the best dancing in the world. Yes. You can stay here in Honolulu and enjoy an amazing nutcracker experience. I love that. And that's true. I've seen it with my own eyes. I've experienced, I will be there every year for it. Probably more than once. That's great. I think it's important to go to support the company. And it's fun to do. Yes. How fun is it to know you're supporting a local organization and being fabulously entertained at the same time? Exactly. That's the end of act two right there. Oh, look how gorgeous. The flowers and the rainbow and a fairy turn comes down and the basket and takes Clara up in the air. I loved it. I love it. It's so beautiful. The artwork, who does all of this backdrop? The sets were done and they came to Hawaii. The team worked with a designer in Washington that he'd worked a number of different shows with. Yes. And I am drawing a complete black holly. Yeah, holly-high fill. Holly-high fill, yeah. Of course. Holly-high fill did the scenery and the props and then our lighting designer is a guy called Trad Burns who is really excellent. Yeah. Really excellent. I would have to agree because it just looks amazing. The colors are so vibrant. Yes. And you just feel it. It's just beautiful. We got to send a shout-out to the Hawaii Symphony playing for us. Yes. It totally changes the nature of the performance in a very positive way. Oh, I love that. So many of the students have not ever had the opportunity to dance with the orchestra as well. I think that makes a difference to them. And that segues into something that we did talk about which is our angel program. Yes. And we do a performance for children who are attending Title I schools and are with social services and also with the families of military who are deployed or about to be deployed. So we create some real special moments for people who might not be able to see dance otherwise or give people an opportunity to get away from their everyday realities. And we provide that at no cost, including the transportation. I love it. I love it. I've seen them unload by the bus loads. They come in and they're all excited. And I just can't imagine how many imaginations you're sparking for these children. We get drawings from the Angel Kid program sometimes, from the Angel Kid sometimes, and we call them the Angel Kids. And you will be amazed at the retention of visual retention that we get in those pictures. People, they remember a lot. It's really quite something. That's the beauty of all of the arts is that it's a beautiful dynamic way of teaching. And you get so much comprehension and just, as you said, retention. So many lessons learned. Fire is our imagination. Yes. Yes. That's what you want to do. That's what you want to do. Because, you know, we never know who's going to be our next who. Pamela Taylor. Exactly. Exactly. She's sitting somewhere in the audience right now. Did you know? You just never know. And so that's what we do. You do. Who you can inspire. We had one kid who came to see an Angel performance and years later, he fell in love with dance years later, started taking classes, and he ended up performing in one of our shows for an Angel audience. See? Full circle. Full circle. I love it. Chicken skin again. I'm going to start crying. Get on the set. You guys are delightful. And what you're doing is amazing. I can honestly say I believe what you're doing is changing lives. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you both. Now I know, you've been here 34 years, we didn't touch on how new you are, but you've probably been there since forever. I've been in Hawaii about 30 years, and with Ballet Hawaii about 10. Yeah. He left and he came back. He missed it so much. See, he'll never leave. That's the key. And John had a dance background, not performing, but on the technical side, in New York. So he had that experience before. All the more reason why you should, why we say you don't have to go to New York. We locked him up in Pair Wet Prison. Just for our audience, I'm going to tell you, Pam said, I'm not going to talk much. She's been on it. On it, Pam. I'm very shy. We can tell. We can tell. John, I see what you mean now. You guys, thank you so much for being here today. Thank you, Pam. I can't wait to hear more about what you have going on. We'll probably get you back right before the nutcracker happens. We have lots of things to talk about all the time. We've got always new ideas coming at us. Yes. And things that we want to try out in the community and see if there's traction. So, yeah, that'd be great. That's right. And I want to be a part of some of those things. Wonderful. And remember, class, not too too late. It's not too too late. That'll be something. Yeah. If I get to pick the colors of my tutus, then fine. Okay. No problem. Okay. No problem. No problem. Awesome. You guys, you've been watching At the Crossroads, where we've been talking with John and Pam from Ballet, Hawaii. We'll see you next time. Aloha.