Off the Beaten Path

Photo courtesy Cirque du Soleil ‘Auana

Mami Ogiwara was on track to pursue a more conventional career. Then Cirque du Soleil came to town.

Medical school or the circus. That’s the choice Mami Ogiwara found herself contemplating last year.

The former Miss Hawai‘i Volunteer had her heart set on becoming a pediatrician but worried she wouldn’t be able to afford medical school. For guidance, she turned to the woman who was like a second mother to her, kumu hula Hiwa Vaughan of Hālau Hula Ka Lehua Tuahine.

“She said, ‘Well, I know you’re going down this medical route, but don’t you think you would want to audition for Cirque du Soleil?’” Ogiwara recalls.

It was the first she’d heard of the world-renowned theatrical production company recognized for its captivating combination of acrobatics, visual arts and music — so she set to googling and learned that hula auditions were being held for Cirque du Soleil’s first permanent Hawai‘i show, ‘Auana.

“I saw what Cirque du Soleil really stood for and I really admired how they embraced culture and really unified so many countries through performing arts,” Ogiwara says. “So, I thought, ‘Well, I love to dance hula … why not?’”

Great, she remembers Vaughan telling her, but she needed to turn in an audition tape by the next day. (Although Vaughan would go on to join ‘Auana’s creative team, she would not have the final say on which dancers made the cut.)

Ogiwara scrambled to make the deadline. A day or two later, she received an invitation for an in-person audition.

It seemed like a promising sign. But she still applied for medical school.

‘Auana means to wander off the beaten path: A leisurely stroll with no set destination, perhaps. Or, a drifting from reality into a daydream. It also suggests a surrender, an openness to letting life take you where it will.

Months had passed since Ogiwara’s audition and she still hadn’t heard back. In the meantime, she continued to enjoy her job as a part-time hula teacher at Ma‘ema‘e Elementary School.

Then she got a letter from University of Hawai‘i John A. Burns School of Medicine. She hadn’t been accepted.

It was a disappointment, and she was still contemplating her next steps when an email from Cirque du Soleil landed in her inbox: an offer to join ‘Auana.

“I was at work (when I got the news) and I dropped my phone,” Ogiwara says. “I was shaking and needed to excuse myself to go to the bathroom because I couldn’t believe the email that I was reading.”

She remembers it as a time of redirection.

Imagine an acrobat in mid-air, twirling past her partner’s outstretched arms.

Soon enough, she’d be swept into a whirlwind of rehearsals (nine hours a day, six days a week for nearly eight months), makeup lessons and costume fittings.

Like all of Cirque du Soleil’s productions, ‘Auana invites audiences to leave reality behind and immerse themselves in a world of fantasy. Viewers will be treated to the same exceptional stagecraft that Cirque is known for, but with stories centered on Native Hawaiian myths and culture.

“So there will be a voyaging, there will be the story of Naupaka, there will be Pele, there will be a hint of the Golden Age, there will be Hina as well as Nalu and Mamala,” Ogiwara says.

The 80-minute show will be broken up into eight chapters and Cirque du Soleil performers from around the world — acrobats, gymnasts, contortionists and balloonists — will help to bring the tales to life. They’ll be accompanied by a soundtrack featuring local artists.

To ensure that the show is authentic, Cirque du Soleil brought on board a team of Native Hawaiian creatives.

Vaughan, an award-winning kumu hula and one of only five women to have won Miss Keiki Hula and Merrie Monarch’s Miss Aloha Hula, is choreographer.
Manaola Yap, the first Native Hawaiian to showcase Hawaiian culture and couture at New York Fashion Week, is costume design consultant.

Keao NeSmith, who translated Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, The Little Prince and The Harry Potter series into Hawaiian, is linguist and lyricist.

Aaron Salā, who is president and CEO of the Hawai‘i Visitors and Convention Bureau and collaborated with Yo-Yo Ma and Disney on the Hawaiian language rendition of Moana, is cultural creative producer.

‘Auana also describes a particular style of hula, a looser version that incorporates Western influences and allows for more creative freedom.

“We have specific acrobats who have trained for this act (but) the hula will be integrated throughout the eight chapters,” Ogiwara says. “So, we will be specifically focused on how we can bring life to all of the acts through hula.”

A hint of what to expect may have revealed itself in her audition.

The Roosevelt High School graduate had been taking hula lessons since she was 4 years old, and by 2019 she was representing Hālau Hula Ka Lehua Tuahine in the Miss Aloha Hula contest. She didn’t win in 2019, but she did capture the Miss Hawai‘i Volunteer title in 2021.

So, she’s no stranger to performing. Still, she says the Cirque du Soleil audition took it to another level. It was held over two days. Dancers were split into small groups and told to chant and perform modern and traditional hula. They were even rated on their non-hula-related dance skills.

“Me only having a hula background, I definitely struggled on the contemporary dance,” Ogiwara says. “But I just knew … I just had to do my best, give it my 100% and walk away with no regrets.”

Although the hula dancers may take some creative license in ‘Auana, Ogiwara says the goal is to present something that is uplifting and respectful to Hawai‘i’s culture.

“A lot of thought has gone into our hula,” she says. “While some of it may be more contemporary, it is rooted in the hula tradition.”

To ensure a solid execution, she pushed herself physically, mentally and emotionally.

“I definitely do run into challenging parts as we approach the premiere,” she says. “There’s a lot of rehearsals and adjustments, and because the hula dancers are integrated (into all of the chapters) there’s a lot expected of us. And, I did injure my hip at one point. I overstretched a muscle … so there were times when I did have to sit out rehearsals and that was challenging for me.”

But it also taught her to pace herself and give herself grace. She says Vaughan has emphasized the importance of being in a good emotional state — because the audience will be able to sense that energy — and trusting one’s na‘au, or gut instinct.

“For example, one of the cultural activities we did as a cast — and that we’ll be using in the finale of the show — is we individually chose our own gourd, or ipu (a percussion instrument that keeps the beat during hula). All of the cast members chose the gourd that was calling to them, so they were following their na‘au.”

It’s a fitting metaphor for Ogiwara, who had been set on medical school when the universe, perhaps acting on its own na‘au, set her on a different path.

Truth be told, Ogiwara says she still hasn’t ruled out a future in medicine. But for now, she’ll continue to trust in ‘auana and ‘Auana.

Showings of ‘Auana are at 5:30 and 8:30 p.m. Wednesdays-Sundays at OUTRIGGER Waikīkī Beachcomber Hotel. The world premiere is scheduled for Dec. 17. To purchase tickets, visit cirquedusoleil.com/auana. Follow the show on Instagram (@cirquedusoleil.auana).