Patrick Makuakane brings his powerful Hawaiian women to dance for us this weekend. Don’t worry about the earthquake. He had already phoned his family back on the Island by the time I talked with him Monday morning. Everyone is safe, and he will be ready to perform Daughters of Haumea at the Palace of Fine Arts beginning this Saturday. This show is based on mysterious women of ancient Hawai’i.
Patrick is a Hawai’i native who moved to the Bay Area when he was 21. He is the artistic director and choreographer for Na Lei Hulu I Ka Wekiu (nah-layee-WHO-LOU-ee-kah-vay-kee-you) a local Hawaiian performance company. He explained to me that the name means “many-feathered wreath.” And, yes, that W is pronounced as a V. The traditional Island culture was short on precious metals and gemstones, so they valued other pretty things, like feathers and sea shells. A many-feathered wreath would be a treasured object. Patrick’s company celebrates the ancient people in dance and chant.

The title of the show is taken from the book Daughters of Haumea: Women of Ancient Hawai’i, written by Lucia Jensen and her daughter Natalie, published by Pueo Press in 2005. Haumea (HOW-uh-may-uh) was one of the first ancestors in Hawaiian spiritual life. She was the earth-mother of a god. Daughters of Haumea will use 42 dancers in just over two hours to tell stories of influential women throughout the history of Hawai’i. They were oracles, priestesses, fearsome warriors, goddesses, and “mighty rulers.” These women “participated in the metaphysical rebirth of men,” as Patrick explained.

“Women prepare men for burial,” he said. I’m sure he meant they do this after death. Very specific rites are dictated by Hawaiian culture. The traditional Island society is sexually segmented, with specific duties and attributes assigned to each sex. Within the past 1,200 years, some Hawaiian rulers have been women. The final democratic monarchy was headed by Queen Lydia Liliuoklani until 1898.

One of the images of the performance will be a dragon’s egg. According to Patrick, dragons, always female, were the guardians of all fresh water sources on the islands, including streams and ponds. In the bit with the egg, Rachel Berman, native Hawaiian, former soloist for the Paul Taylor dance company and a frequent contributor to Dancers Responding to AIDS, will enact the hatching of the dragon. The dancers will be accompanied by traditional instrumentation on ukulele, guitar, percussion on gourds, and chanting. Modern music will also play, such as works by Yoko Ono and Dead Can Dance.

Last year was the twentieth anniversary of the founding of Na Lei. The company uses performers of every gender and age. Some couples work together for the company, whether married or not. One number in this show involves women who have met one another through their work at Na Lei. The theme of this piece will be women who are skilled in the art of lovemaking.

“There is a huge hula community in the Bay Area,” Patrick claimed, “with a large contingent of displaced Hawaiians.” He suggested that California has more native Hawaiian residents than do the islands themselves.

Daughters of Haumea will perform at the Palace of Fine Arts, 3301 Lyon St, San Francisco, through Oct. 29. Tickets ($30 to $35) are available at City Box Office (415) 392-4400 or (800) 407-1400, or on the Web at www.cityboxoffice.com and at all tickets.com locations.