(Guest blog post from local girl, Hawaii resident, belly dancer, model, actress, singer and childhood friend of Chris Abraham, Miss Willow Chang)
Aloha friends. I write to you at the end of what could have been- an amazing day to mark a milestone in Hawaii’s becoming a state 50 years ago. I certainly don’t want to rankle anyone, and I’m not here to debate the actions of the past. Instead, I wonder to myself: when did it become such a ‘crime’ to be proud of where you live or express interest in celebrating it?
Hawaii has the distinction of being a fun place, a place of mystique, beauty, depth, culture and intrigue. We also have been marketed as a paradise, an oasis, a melting pot, a place that’s kitschy, a place to fall in love, a place to find yourself, a place where the modern and ancient can co-exist.
Would a celebration of our diverse islands be such a bad thing? I’m not suggesting that we be flagrant in what are obvious hard economic times. But really, we’ll never see 50 EVER again. A parade- lord knows we have a lot of them, a ho’olaulea, hula, music, food, dance, prayers, offerings- these are the elements that make hawai’i unique when we celebrate. By celebrating 50, it is a continuum- honoring the past celebrating the now and encouraging the future.
When I think of times that Hawai’i felt united and co-heasive, I think of the annual lantern floating festival at magic island…the winning streak of UH football that got everyone jazzed- even non football fans!…Barack Obama’s ascent into the national spotlight (and hello, president! I’m setting politics aside here- cause that still is an achievement, no matter how you slice it.) The amazing Clay winning the decathlon come to mind…how bout the enthusiasm for Michelle Wie? Makana? Iona Dance Company? Our poetry slam team. C & K? Merrie Monarch attendees…Duke Kahanamoku…the Hokuleia…our green mice? There’s Jack Johnson and a million people, Hawaiian, locals and kama’ainas in training who are awesome and stir the soul!!!
Think about this: our state birthed surfing, we live aloha, we have the only palace in America (and that’s an opportunity to educate), our natives navigated by the stars, we are the birthplace of slack key, brah- we have plate lunch! Here, we CELEBRATE HAPA! We live multiculturally and have done so, side by side, for years, we’ve had a Filipino and a woman governor, a Samoan mayor- and one who sings, for heaven’s sake!
EVERYONE is allowed at bon dances!
People save up their money to come to Hawaii. They come and get MARRIED here! They honeymoon here and even renew their vows. Hapas and gays feel welcome here. We offer hula, Hawaiian studies, Peking opera, Noh Theater, Tahitian dance, Korean studies and countless other amazing courses at UH. People compete paddling canoes BETWEEN ISLANDS! We have an awesome astronomy dept- and will have the BEST IN THE WORLD on the big island! We have creatures here nowhere else (Hawaiian birds, Hawaiian monk seals, silvers words etc.) golden plovers fly across the ocean to be here. We have hula dancers on our phonebooks and rainbows on our license plates (and drivers license)! Sitcoms come to Hawaii to be revived, and no other state has a cooler “theme’ than Hawaii 5-0!!! (da-da-dun-da-da-da…da-da-da-dun-daaah)
Why there was no leadership to put an event together makes me sad.
I feel that this is really simply apathy, fear and maybe even laziness. No one wanted to rock the boat and upset some activists. But the reality is, NO MATTER WHAT when you are charged to be against the status quo, there will be nothing you can do to please these factions. The beauty of being a state is that we are ALL protected by our constitution to gather, assemble and express our options, ideas and beliefs…without the fear of being rounded up and thrown in jail. Think of Iran, Myanmar, Egypt, North Korea and countless places without such freedoms! Instead, we cowered in the corner…why?
We could have used the energy to galvanize a momentum of positivity, to celebrate what makes our beautiful state inimitable.
Instead, we when shopping. (Eh brah- I wen da MAC counter at ala moana too… it was PACKED! tried to see a movie tonight and it and 2 others were SOLD OUT!)
Don’t tell me people didn’t need a release, a moment of fun, of diversion.
I hope that in the future, we aren’t simply hijacked by fear. Because today’s absence of celebration felt like it (and no, a symposium at the convention center doesn’t count. sorry.)
Bio of Willow Chang:
Classically trained in voice, Willow Chang is noted for her musicality, bell-like tone and clarity. She is sophisticated, emotive and expressive, singing not only the lyrics, but also the story each song tells.
Willow’s versatility embraces such genres as Broadway show tunes, French Melodie, art songs, madrigals, choral works, R&B, funk and ’80s pop. For example, she has been the lead vocalist for Swingwood Revue (neo and classic Big Band), Plush Nugget (funk and R&B) and Paradise Sisters and Co. (Top 40).
In 2008, Willow was featured with The Hot Club of Hulaville, sharing the best of Django gyspy inspired Jazz and cabaret. With her period perfect flair, on-spot French and undeniable musicality, she helped create the buzz about the band! Since 2003, Willow has been with The Forbidden World of Don Tiki (Hawai‘i Exotica), and is intregal to their theatrical shows as featured vocal soloist and dance artist, selecting her music, and creating both her own unique costumes and choreography.
Together, they’ve played the Hawaii Theater, Hawaiian Hut, The Turtle Bay Jazz festival, the Hilton Hawaiian Village, The Elks Club, The Pacific Beach Hotel, The Honolulu Design Center, the Hawaii State Art Museum, the Hawaii Convention Center, Aloha Tower Marketplace, Night time with Andy Bumatai, Honolulu City 150’s birthday Gala, with the Honolulu Symphony, for countless conventions, the Las Vegas opening of the Hawaiian Tropic Zone Restaurant in the Planet Hollywood Hotel, were featured in Hanahou- Hawaiian Airlines’ inflight magazine, on German television and in Berlin, Germany for the Wassermusik Festival in 2008.
For the past 16 years, Willow has specialized in jazz standards and contemporary cabaret. Audiences find her mesmerizing and memorable through her great song choices, vibrant delivery, engaging rapport and impeccable, elegant stage presence. Willow has been singing for audiences since she was 7 and has been studying voice since she was 13.
Among her early vocal achievements, she was invited into the exclusive Punahou Chorale and select honor choir, which performed in Japan, and was a representative for the Hawai‘i State Honor Choir.
At Sarah Lawrence College, she studied vocal literature, sight singing, composition and music theory.
Willow graduated from the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa with a minor in music. Her excellent pitch translates into ease of singing in numerous languages, including German, Hawaiian, Japanese, Chinese, Italian, Latin, Russian, Spanish, French, Turkish and Arabic, to name a few.
Since her teen years, Willow has studied voice with Julianne Cross, Erik Haines, Eddye Pierce-Young, Jean Wentworth, Vicky Gorman, Annette Johansson, Larry Paxton and Theresa Bomberger. Currently (since 2002), she studies the Bel Canto technique with renowned Maestra Neva Rego, of the famed La Scala Opera.
Willow has sung internationally at the Club Piano Piano, in the Cairo World Trade Center and the Cairo Jazz Club in Mohandessen, Egypt.
In the Islands, she has had steady engagements at Michel’s at the Colony Surf, the Ship’s Tavern at the historic Sheraton Moana Surfrider, O‘ahu Country Club, MidPacific Country Club and Café Che Pasta.
Willow is frequently booked to sing at the Sheraton Waikiki’s famed Hanohano room. She sings for exclusive events, ranging from wine tastings and art openings to conventions, and is much in demand for gala and fundraising events (Hawaiian Humane Society, Juvenile Diabetes, Diamond Head Theater, Hawai‘i Theater for Youth, Honolulu Academy of Arts and opening celebrations for the Waikiki Tiffany & Co. store) Willow is now producing her own events, including the World dance concert series PUJA, and music concerts at Hawaii Public Radio.
In Decemeber 2008, she made her debut with the Willow Sings Songs of the Season. Willow placed in the top three in the juried 2006 Hapa Haole Song & Dance Contest by performing an original composition.
Her original music was featured on the Discover Recycling soundtrack CD, alongside cuts from Henry Kapono and Jack Johnson. In 2008, she was a finalist in the Hawaii Public Radio Art Song Contest, singing literature by Aaron Copeland.
Willow has written and composed original songs, and recently completed her first demo of jazz standards.
