The Story of EverythingThe Story of Everything (TSOE) is Kealoha's newest, biggest, and most ambitious work ever. Told in epic poem format, TSOE is a creation story that traces our origins from the big bang to now using science, poetry, storytelling, movement, music, visual art, and chanting. Based on multiple knowledge systems, it explores the question “Where do we come from?”
Through this work, made possible through the support of a Native Arts and Cultures Foundation Community Inspiration Award (with additional funding support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Engaging the Senses Foundation, the Leonard & Rose Freeman Family Fund of the Hawaiʻi Community Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the Kalliopeia Foundation), the poet dramatizes explanations for human origin, drawing from sources as diverse and yet interconnected as the Big Bang Theory, disco, astrophysics, evolution, world music/dance, climate change, and the Kumulipo (a sacred 18th century Hawaiian creation chant). It explores how various cultural elements and scientific disciplines can be used to approach a question about existence that has challenged humans from the very beginning. Kealoha’s performance traces the beginning of life from simple forms that evolve into complex relationships, and ends with a provocation: “Where do we go from here? What’s next?” TSOE is a live multi-media show that has toured throughout the United States, playing to standing ovations for audiences as varied as California, Arkansas, Utah, Arizona, and Honolulu. TSOE features visual art projections by Solomon Enos, music by Taimane and the Quadraphonix, oli presented by Kauʻi Kanakaʻole, and dancing by Jamie Nakama, Jonathan Clarke Sypert, and Jory Horn in collaboration with Wailana Simcock. The production is co-directed by Cristian "See" Ellauri, Marc Bamuthi Joseph, and Harry Wong. The 1 hour and 45 minute performance includes one 15 minute intermission. TSOE is also a finished film! Produced by the Engaging the Senses Foundation, it premiered at the 2022 Hawaiʻi International Film Festival and the 2022 Maui Film Festival, where it won the Peoples Choice Award. It then went on a film tour in 2023, receiving the Special Jury Acting Award from the Awareness Film Festival; Best Original Score, Best Documentary Film, and Best Male Actor Awards from the Golden Gate Film Festival; an Honorable Mention Selection from the Cinema Verde Environmental Film & Arts Festival; and Winner of Best Feature Documentary, Mediterranean Film Festival, Cannes-Milan-Athens. TSOE also screened for the public at the Skirball Cultural Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, U.C. Berkeley, The Honolulu Museum of Art, and the City University of New York. Enhanced with visual effects and stunning footage from NASA, National Geographic, and the BBC, this film is poetry like you’ve never seen it before! Go to The Story of Everything film website to learn more. If you are interested in attending future live shows or viewing the film project, please send an email to info@KealohaPoetry and let us know what island/state/country you live in and we will only notify you about how you can access our show. If you are interested in booking TSOE, please contact Pasifika Artists Network, LLC; Karen A. Fischer, President; 1-808-283-7007; [email protected] |
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About The Native Arts And Cultures Foundation
The Native Arts and Cultures Foundation (NACF) is a national nonprofit that promotes the revitalization, appreciation and perpetuation of Native arts and cultures through grantmaking, advocacy and convening. They believe strengthening the field of Native arts and cultures is absolutely necessary to ensure cultural continuity and community resilience. NACF is grateful for the generous support of “The Story of Everything” from the Leonard & Rose Freeman Family Fund of the Hawaiʻi Community Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Engaging the Senses Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and Kalliopeia Foundation. Visit www.nativeartsandcultures.org for more information.
About the Engaging the Senses Foundation
Engaging the Senses Foundation (ETSF) is a Los Angeles based educationally oriented non-profit created to support and sustain people in utilizing their senses — sight, smell, taste, touch, and hearing — to create a consciously-lived life. Its primary emphasis is on “waking up” through the arts, with a particular focus on poetry, the “universal language that the heart holds with nature and itself” which can fulfill our primal human need for beauty and serve as a portal to mindfulness, inspiration, connection, and transformation. ETSF serves this mandate by creating dramatic films and series based on the lives of great poets; poetry documentaries; and mindfulness teachings that prepare us for the truths contained in poetry and art. The foundation partners with literary organizations, art councils, universities, and other art-based institutions to bring literature, poetry, mindfulness training, and art to underserved communities, schools, town halls, and libraries. Through the creation of programs and events that illuminate the intersection of art, awareness, and compassion, Engaging the Senses Foundation honors the indivisibility of the human spirit and nature, and attends to the nurturing of both. Visit www.engagingthesensesfoundation.com for more information.
