JCC CINEMA MOVIE SCREENING & SHARING SESSION

Hula Girls

Saturday, 31 March 2012
2:00pm to 5:00pm
(Registration starts at 1:30pm)

The Japan Creative Centre invites you to join us at our JCC film screening and creative session. As part of JCC's creative program, we will be screening exciting Japanese movies at the end of every month. The screening will then be followed by an informative sharing session where guest speakers will share their thoughts and insights on all things Japan!

For our ninth session, we will be screening Hula Girls, the 2006 critically-acclaimed movie about how a group of young women saved their small Japanese mining town by taking on hula dancing. The screening will be followed by a sharing session by Ms. Mihoko Takahashi from Mahana-Mihoko Hula Studio, who will discuss the opening of the Hawaiian spa resort featured in the movie, the spirit of Hula dancing in Hawaii, and the popular appeal of Hawaii in Japan. After the talk, there will also be a live demonstration of two different types of Hula dance!

Synopsis of Film

Director: Sang-il Lee
Starring: Yasuko Matsuyuki, Etsushi Toyokawa, Yu Aoi, Ittoku Kishibe, Sumiko Fuji

When the demand for coal plunges, the workers in the remote mining town of Iwaki are laid off as the company decides to reinvent itself into a lavish Hawaiian hot springs resorts. In a bid to raise the economic profile of the desolate town, Madoka Hirayama (Yasuko Matsuyuki) is recruited from Tokyo to train the local girls in the Hawaiian Hula dance. While the Hula girls are off to a rocky start in the beginning, the ladies are soon able to sway their hips in grace. Eventually Hirayama’s efforts pay off as her students are filled with a newfound sense of confidence through the ancient art of dance.

Hula Girls was the winner of 5 major awards at the 2007 Japan Academy Awards. It is based on the true story of the Fukushima Hula Girls, whose plight after the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake is depicted in the NHK documentary of the same name screened at JCC during the Tohoku Photo Exhibition from 3-9 March.

About the Speaker

Ms. Mihoko Takahashi was first acquainted with Hula dancing when she visited Hawaii in 1986. In 1998, she joined a Halau (class) in Chigasaki, Kanagawa, one of the largest classes in Japan. Ms. Takahashi began learning the Hula dance professionally from instructors who trained regularly in Hawaii, and she did well at national and international Hula dancing competitions during this period. She moved to Singapore with her husband in 2008 and taught Hula dancing as a volunteer initially, but founded her own studio, Mahana-Mihoko Hula Studio, in 2009. Besides managing her studio, Ms. Tahakashi has also been actively involved in local Hula events to increase greater awareness about the dance.


For registration, please kindly register early for a seat to avoid disappointment! Registration closes once we have a full house! ALL EVENTS ARE FREE OF CHARGE.