Opposing Forces Slated for Two Big Island Performances

Opposing Forces courtesy photo.

Five B-Boys from different generations and cultures will join together on stage for two evenings of curiosity, strength, vulnerability, and grace in Amy O’Neal’s Opposing Forces.

On Tuesday, Feb. 9 the performance will take place on the University of Hawai’i at Hilo Performing Arts Center stage, and on Saturday, Feb. 13 at Kahilu Theatre.

The dance performance will be a combination of street style dance and contemporary dance story telling, featuring Opposing Forces performers and movement collaborators Alfredo “Free” Vergara Jr., Brysen “Just Be” Angeles, Fever One, Michael O’Neal Jr., and Mozeslateef.

O’Neal , a dancer, performer, choreographer, and dance educator based out of Seattle, will examine the B-Boy culture as it relates to femininity and the value systems of dance battling, commercial dance, stage performance, and freestyle cyphers.

In addition to the performances, O’Neal will teach a Master Class on Friday, Feb. 12. The master class costs $10 and will provide lessons in stylistic and cultural differences between Hip Hop, House Vogue, Whacking, Commercial Hip Hop, Street Jazz, and her signature amalgam of all these things.

The workshop will take place at the Kahilu Theatre and costs $10.

This presentation of Opposing Forces by Amy O’Neal was made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, with additional support from the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as sponsorship by the Western Arts Federation.

Tickets to the UH-Hilo show cost $35/$30/$20 and can be purchased online.

Tickets to the Kahilu Theatre show cost $68/$58/$47/$20 and can be purchased online, by calling 885-6868, or by visiting the Kahilu Theatre Box Office.