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Brown Bag Biography: ​​Noi‘i Nowelo: A Survey of Hawaiian and Indigenous

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Noi‘i Nowelo – A Survey of Hawaiian & Indigenous Performance is the first collection by ANNO, with chapters contributed by our members and numerous other scholars. The range of topics included in Noiʻi Nowelo will highlight artistic practices, theories, and methodologies in Hawaiʻi and the global Indigenous community. Date & Time: March 5, 2026, 12-1:15 PM Place: KUY410 Organizer: Center for Biographical Research Speaker Bios: Tammy Hailiʻōpua Baker (Kanaka Maoli) is a playwright/director/scholar/educator from Kapaʻa, Kauaʻi whose work is dedicated to the revitalization of Kanaka Maoli moʻolelo (Native Hawaiian history and narratives) through Hawaiian-medium theatre, Hana Keaka. Her plays evoke Indigenous consciousness and cultural identity, as illustrated by Puana, featured at the 2024 Kia Mau Festival. She holds an MFA in Directing from the University of Hawaiʻi at ����ԴDz� (UHM) and a PhD in Māori and Indigenous Studies from the University of Waikato in Aotearoa/NZ. Hailiʻōpua oversees the Hawaiian Theatre and Playwriting Programs at UHM where she is the co-director of ‘Ahahui Noi‘i No‘eau ‘Ōiwi-Research Institute of Indigenous Performance (ANNO). In recognition of her contributions, she was awarded the Kennedy Center Medallion of Excellence in 2022. Maile Speetjens (BFA in Musical Theatre, Emerson College; MFA in Costume Design and Technology, University of Georgia, Athens) serves as Associate Professor of Costumes, Hair, and Makeup at the University of Hawaiʻi at ����ԴDz�. Maile’s work in costumes has spanned from Boston to Hawaii and in-between. Recent creative research includes Aloha Attire (Kumu Kahua Theatre, Honolulu), Twelfth Night (Lyric Repertory), Conversion of Ka’ahumanu (Kumu Kahua Theatre, Honolulu), and ‘Au’a ‘Ia: Holding On (UH ����ԴDz� Hana Keaka).Current research interests include empathy-centered pedagogical strategies, alternative approaches to design work and course construction, design for Hana Keaka (Hawaiian medium theatre), and new strategies in digital draping technology. J. Lorenzo Perillo is an Associate Professor of Theatre and Dance at the University of Hawaiʻi at ����ԴDz� whose work bridges performance studies, Philippine Studies, and diasporic cultural production. He is the author of Choreographing in Color: Filipinos, Hip-hop, and the Cultural Politics of Euphemism (Oxford University Press, 2020). In 2025, he directed and created Dancing in the Diaspora, a Filipino dance cultural production that translates research into public-facing performance and community engagement. He is also a founding member of

Event Sponsor
Center for Biographical Research, Mānoa Campus

More Information
Carson Compos, 8089563774, biograph@hawaii.edu