Luau's are another peculiarity on the island. From what I gather, it is a rather loose and all encompassing word to capture just about any celebration. Which makes it easier to attend one of these spectacles. I mean, the past year we also went an saw Turandot at the Milwaukee PAC. Now, Turandot is an Italian Opera based on a Persian fable about a Chinese Princess as performed by Americans, and about as inauthentic as you can get. For instance, three of the characters are named Ping, Pang, Pong and they are they are as much caricatures as characters. Not that Turndot is bad, it is quite good actually, just you can't help but feel a little slimy for ripping off a culture in such a way. So, back to the Luau, the Kilohana luau, fortunately, didn't really pretend to be authentic at all. Instead, it was a play about luau and the origin journey to the islands. Very meta. And, it worked very well for my over sensitive personage. And, the fire dancing was really cool.
So, as I researched the Luau further, I came to realize it is as much a western invention on the island as traditional of the island people. That the history of eating and drinking in excess at a show sort of grew together. And whatever the modern incarnation is, is just as genuine as what it was. And really, that is what made this show so great. It didn't pretend, it just was.
And, I really can't stress this enough, the fire was awesome.
jon
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