By Sarah Hendrix | Staff Writer

KCC hosted music and dances found around the world on the last day of this year’s International Festival. The Middle Eastern Dance Association of Hawaiʻi (MEDAH), UH Mānoa Tahitian Dance Ensemble, and Indonesia’s instrument, the angklong, were all part of the festivities on Thursday afternoon.

Renée Arnold performs a traditional Middle Eastern dance at the International Festival. (Photo by Sarah Hendrix)

Professor Renée Arnold, who teaches French at KCC, participated with MEDAH to bring dances from the Middle East to KCC. Arnold has spent 14 years in Honolulu performing with MEDAH. She has also traveled globally dancing in London and Paris.

The UH Mānoa Tahitian Dance Ensemble was brought by UH Professor Jane Moulin, who has a PhD in Ethnomusicology. The dance ensemble is a course offered at UH Mānoa as a part of the World Music program in the Ethnomusicology department. Students from UH who are currently enrolled in the program performed at KCC.

“One of the main purposes of Tahitian dance is for fun, to make any event more enjoyable,” Moulin said.

Students enrolled in MUS 107 at KCC learned to play the angklong only moments before performing. (Photo by Sarah Hendrix)

Professor Man Yang, who teaches Music in World Cultures at KCC, had students in her MUS 107 class play a traditional Indonesian instrument called the angklong. The simplicity of the instrument comes from each instrument only being able to play one musical note. It is done by shaking the instrument, which allowed Yang’s MUS 107 class to learn the angklong just moments before they performed at the festival.

“Yes, they just learned it. Because it is pretty easy to play. Each instrument produces one pitch or one sound,” Yang said. “So by working together they play a melody playing five notes.”

[To see all stories on International Festival click here.]