MĀHŪ: A Trans-Pacific Love Letter
Saturday october 18, 2025
5:00 PM - 6:15 PM
film: MĀHŪ: A Trans-Pacific Love Letter
Come see the special live performance following the film!
MĀHŪ: A Trans-Pacific Love Letter is a short documentary about an innovative theater production by master hula teacher, Kumu Hula Patrick Makuakāne, which aims to reclaim and celebrate the traditional place of honor and respect given to māhū (transgender) people.
MĀHŪ explores the history and meaning of the Hawaiian term māhū through a powerful multimedia stage performance interweaving hula, chant, and contemporary music with intimate interviews of acclaimed Hawaiian transgender artists. As the ensemble prepares to premiere the show in Honolulu, we meet Kumu Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Iwalani Hoʻomanawanui Apo, and Kaumakaiwa Kanakaʻole—cultural leaders and artists who share intergenerational stories of resilience while embracing māhū identity with openness and confidence. Once stigmatized, the word māhū is reclaimed here as a source of cultural pride, reminding us that before colonization, Hawaiian culture honored gender diversity as integral to community, artistry, and aloha. Featured artist Patrick Makuakāne, renowned for blending tradition with innovation, expands this legacy through his groundbreaking hula company Nā Lei Hulu I Ka Wēkiu, presenting work that is progressive, provocative, and deeply Hawaiian.
Q&A
Moderator: Kanoe Kahaku
Kanoe Kahaku is Kumu Kōkua with Hālau Nā Wai Ola in Campbell, California. An accomplished and award-winning hula dancer, she has performed with many prominent Hawaiian musicians and in productions across the U.S. and internationally. In addition to her work on stage, Kanoe participates in Hawaiian cultural education and discussions, helping to share and preserve the traditions of her kūpuna. Through teaching, performing, and community outreach, she is dedicated to spreading the true essence of aloha.
Director: Kumu Patrick Makuakane
Patrick Makuakāne is a 2023 MacArthur Fellow, kumu hula, choreographer, dancer and raconteur. Born and raised in Honolulu, Hawai’i, he studied with two of Hawaiʻi’s most revered hula masters, Robert Uluwehi Cazimero and Mae Kamāmalu Klein. He is the founder and director of the Hawaiian dance company and cultural organization, Nā Lei Hulu i ka Wēkiu of San Francisco, and is known for his creativity and ground-breaking theatrical performances. While a passionate preservor of tradition, his artistry also crafts a provactive treatment of tradition that leaps forward in meaningful and surprising ways. He appreciates how dichotomy can be a powerful tool to create work, especially as it relates to upending misconceived notions regarding hula. This has resulted in productions exploring colonization and the current US occupation of Hawaiʻi, native Hawaiian transgender artists, hula as community builder in San Quentin State Prison. In 2022, Kumu Patrickwas given a special Lifetime Achievement Kulia i ka Nu’u Award from the Honolulu Chamber of Commerce of Northern California. Makuakāne is a passionate advocate for equal representation and he currently serves as the spiritual and cultural advisor for the Native Hawaiian Religioius Spiritual Group at San Quentin State Prison.