OSU Hawaiian celebration features 100 dancers, lu’au

By: Theresa Hogue, [email protected]

Source: Breanna Taguchi, [email protected]

This release is available at: https://beav.es/SBT

CORVALLIS, Ore.  – The 68th annual Hō’ike, an event that celebrates Hawaiian dance and culture, will take place April 29 at The LaSells Stewart Center on the Oregon State University Corvallis campus.

The lūʻau, a Hawai’i style dinner, is returning this year for the first time since the pandemic. It will be followed by a Hōʻike, where nearly 100 dancers will be performing different styles of hula and Tahitian dance. This year’s show is titled “Nā Mele Kaulana O Hawai’i,” which translates to “The Famous Songs of Hawai’i.”

“Mele, or songs, are very important to Hawaiian culture because it is a way of storytelling and passing down mana’o, or knowledge, from generation to generation,” said Kobie Uyeda, a kinesiology student at Oregon State and Hōʻike show coordinator. “These meles reflect the different eras of Hawaii’s history and have now been revamped to a more modern style that represents Hawaii today. We will be taking our audience on a journey through these different eras as we share our story through mele and traditional dance.”

Doors open at 3:30 p.m. Dinner will be served from 4-5:30 p.m. The show begins at 6 p.m. and continues through 8 p.m. OSU student tickets are $5 and there is limited availability. Public tickets are $15. The menu includes vegetarian options. To purchase tickets: https://beav.es/SnS.

About Oregon State University: As one of only three universities in the nation designated as a land, sea, space and sun grant institution, Oregon State serves Oregon and the world by working on today’s most pressing issues. Our more than 35,000 students come from across the globe, and our programs operate in every Oregon county. Oregon State receives more research funding than all of the state’s comprehensive public universities combined. At our campuses in Corvallis and Bend, marine research center in Newport and top-ranked Ecampus online degree programs, we excel at shaping today’s students into tomorrow’s leaders.