Interview with Vicky Holt Takamine and Jamaica Osorio.

Summary: Interview with Vicky Holt Takamine and Jamaica Osorio, conducted by Diana Taylor, during the 7th Encuentro of the Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics, held in August of 2009 in Bogotá, Colombia under the title 'Staging Citizenship: Cultural Rights in the Americas.' In this interview, Vicky Holt Takamine and Jamaica Osorio talk about their take on how their particular performance-related work makes a political intervention in the public sphere. Part of the interview incorporates an impromptu spoken word moment by Osorio. This interview complements the performance 'Hula as Resistance,' showcased in this 10-day event, which brought together activism, scholarship, and art around the themes of legacies, memories, struggles, and frontiers of citizenship. Takamine is the founder and kumu hula (master teacher) of Pua Ali'i 'Ilima, a school of traditional Hawaiian dance. She graduated through the 'uniki rituals of hula from Maiki Aiu Lake. Vicky received her BA and MA in Dance Ethnology from the University of Hawai'i. Since 1997, she has coordinated demonstrations, rallies, and marches calling for social, economic, and environmental justice for native Hawaiians. Jamaica Heolimeleikalani Osorio is a dancer who relates her work to 'Îlio'ulaokalani Coalition, an organization of native Hawaiian cultural practitioners who advocate for the protection of their native rights and cultural and natural resources.

Credits: Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics, producer ; Frances Pollitt, videographer.

Credits: Vicky Holt Takamine, interviewee ; Jamaica Osorio, interviewee ; Diana Taylor, interviewer.